Kathmandu: The Zonta Club Kathmandu organized a specialized Mental Health and Self-Care Session for Nepal Police Officers at the Nepal Police Armed Police Battalion in Naxal, Kathmandu on July 7.
Recognizing the high-stress, high-stakes nature of law enforcement, the initiative was designed to advance Zonta’s mission of community empowerment. It provided practical mental health advocacy, stress management frameworks, and emotional resilience tools to 50 police personnel.
The session featured expert interventions led by Ananta Adhikari, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at NAMS, Chief Consultant Psychiatrist, and Former Director of the Mental Hospital in Lagankhel; and Sita Bhandary, Bhandary, Clinical Psychologist, LL.B., and MPhil–PhD Scholar at Tribhuvan University, bringing over 12 years of national and international psychosocial training experience.
The structured training syllabus equipped the participating officers to understand the critical importance of psychological well-being in active police service. It also assisted them to identify prevalent operational mental health challenges as well as address and dismantle systemic stigmas that cause officers to hesitate when seeking psychiatric support. And finally it also helped them to engage in practical, interactive demonstrations of tactical self-care and immediate stress reduction techniques while also recognizing definitive warning signs indicating the need for professional psychiatric care.
The event concluded with an interactive Q&A session and a therapeutic group block. SP Apil Bohara and Mridula Rajbhandari, President of the Zonta Club Kathmandu, delivered closing addresses highlighting the importance of preventative mental health systems within the force.
Reflecting on the success of the collaboration, Ms. Neelima Shrestha, Vice President of the Zonta Club Kathmandu, noted that prioritizing the mental wellness of front-line law enforcement officers directly strengthens the broader framework of societal safety and gender-responsive policing.
