The need, scope, challenges, and potential solutions for enhancing addiction psychiatry training in India

Addictive disorders have become increasingly common in India. The health consequences of addictive disorders are immense, and the need for specialized addiction treatment and training far exceeds the capacity and human resources that currently exist. At the same time, increasing demand and treatment gap, need for specialized care, and the emerging sector of medical tourism in the country open avenues for superspecialty training in addiction psychiatry as an attractive career option for Indian psychiatrists. Human resource development and capacity building in the addiction psychiatry field in India is the need of the hour. In the present article, we describe the existing scenario and challenges related to addiction psychiatry training among postgraduate psychiatry trainees and psychiatrists in India and scope for the future.