Maharishi International Residential School Chennai wins India s only psychology quiz contest PSYCH ED2019 a Fortis School of Mental Health initiative

Psych-ED, a Fortis School of Mental Health programme, witnessed a close competition among sixfinalists who competed for coveted championship held at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) today. Maharishi International Residential School Chennai won the title of India’s only national psychology quiz after an exciting session of quizzing on psychology among the teams.

The six teams - Delhi Public School, Chandigarh, Seth MR Jaipuria School, Lucknow, Navy Children School, Mumbai, Maharishi International Residential School, Chennai, DAV Model School, IIT Kharagpur and The Shri Ram School, Aravali, Gurugram - qualified in their respective zonal finals held at Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Gurgaon before competing for the final today. The first online round of Psych-ED took place on August 7, 2019 which saw participation of over 4,000 teams comprising more than 12,000 children from 700 plus schools across 200 cities. The top 72 teams of the country qualified for the zonal rounds, which were conducted between August 16 to 23, 2019. 

The larger aim of this initiative is to promote psychology and mental health awareness at the grassroots. Psych-ED takes an innovative approach to learning with the finale consisting of fun interactive games that test not only students’ knowledge, but also their teamwork and their ability to think on their feet under pressure.

Speaking after the felicitating the winners, Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Fortis Healthcare, said, “Mental health is one of the most important aspect for everyone well-being today. It is good health and mental well-being which are our real wealth. I am happy to see that school children have been so enthusiastically participated in a Fortis initiative that is intended to make the concept of mental health well-being popular.”

The quiz was conceptualized and conducted by Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Fortis National Mental Health Programme. Speaking about the vision behind Psych-ED, Dr Parikh said, “To bring the joy of learning to psychology and encourage more and more young minds to read about the subject. We want the upcoming generation to become brand ambassadors for mental health – growing up to be more self- aware as well as more sensitive and empathetic others around them. Seeing the enthusiasm that students from across the country has been truly heartening.”

C. Narendran, the teacher mentor of Maharishi International Residential School Chennaisaid, “It’s wonderful to see a subject like psychology which is so relevant get so much importance. The students have been preparing for this quiz for many months – it’s given them an opportunity to think of psychology not just as a textbook subject, but as a means of understanding the world around them.”

Psych-ED 2019 was supported by G D Goenka University, Project CACA, GRacia Raina Foundation, Rupa Publications, Intex, VIP Skybags and Gaana.

Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare:

The Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at Fortis Healthcare is an integrated mental healthcare system comprising a multidisciplinary team of experts including psychiatrists, clinical and counselling psychologists, art and movement-based therapists, psycho-oncologists, remedial experts, psychodynamic psychotherapists, organizational behavior psychologists and sport psychologists. Led by Dr. Samir Parikh, Director, Fortis National Mental Health Program, it is the one of the few multi-city multi-centric comprehensive mental health programme in the world, with a presence in 24 centers across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jaipur and Udaipur. With a key focus on preventive and positive mental health, the department runs the Fortis School Mental Health Program, which is completely free of cost to schools. The Fortis Stress Helpline (8376804102) is a 24 X 7 helpline run by a multilingual team of mental health professionals in order to support individuals experiencing emotional distress.

About Fortis Healthcare Limited:

Fortis Healthcare Limited is a leading integrated healthcare delivery service provider in India. The healthcare verticals of the company primarily comprise hospitals, diagnostics and day care specialty facilities. Currently, the company operates its healthcare delivery services in India, Dubai and Sri Lanka with 43 healthcare facilities (including projects under development), approximately 9,000 potential beds and over 400 diagnostics centres.