International Women's Day - My passion for helping people and overcoming mental health stigma

Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Rachna Bansal works in the Braintree Community Mental Health team.

For International Women’s Day, she explains her passion for helping people and overcoming the stigma around mental health.

“I qualified from medical school in India and did my psychiatric training in the UK.

“After six years of training and passing relevant exams, I applied for a consultant post in adult psychiatry and managed to secure a role at EPUT.

“It has been a long road, with complex exams and interviews in the process, but my passion for the specialty kept me going.

“I enjoy being a psychiatrist and my aim has always been to support my patients in their recovery and help them re-integrate back into the community.

“I want them to lead as normal life as anyone else and want the stigma to not exist anymore.

“Psychiatry is the only specialty in which you not only help your patient, but your input has a wider impact on their carers and the wider community.

“As a clinician, you provide patients with hope at a time when they are at their most vulnerable and desperate state. This is especially important when they may be at risk to themselves or others.

“The combination of managing someone’s medical needs with the social responsibility linked to this and the ability to save lives is what inspired me to take on this role.

“The job satisfaction is incomparable to any other specialty of medicine.

“I have used various platforms to promote good mental health over the years and will continue to do that for the foreseeable future.”