The Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (DIMHANS) is a public medical institution located in Dharwad, Karnataka, India. It provides specialised healthcare, training and research in the fields of mental health, psychiatry and neurosciences, and serves as a major referral centre for psychiatric care in northern Karnataka.
| Name | Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (DIMHANS) |
|---|---|
| Type | Public medical institution |
| Specialisation | Mental health, psychiatry, neurosciences |
| Location | Dharwad, Karnataka, India |
| Country | India |
DIMHANS functions as a tertiary-care institution dedicated to the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. It offers clinical services, academic programmes, and research activities, and caters to patients drawn from Dharwad, the surrounding districts of north Karnataka, and adjoining regions.
The institute traces its origins to a mental health facility established in Dharwad during the colonial period, which subsequently evolved into a regional mental hospital under the Government of Karnataka. It was later upgraded and reconstituted as the Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences to expand its mandate beyond clinical care to include teaching and research, broadly modelled on the structure of specialised mental health institutes in India.
As one of the few dedicated mental health institutions in Karnataka, DIMHANS plays an important role in addressing the regional burden of psychiatric illness, reducing the dependence of patients in north Karnataka on facilities in Bengaluru, and contributing to the training of mental health professionals in the state.