Addiction Medicine and Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry provides comprehensive services for assessment and management of various mental health issues associated with chronic liver and kidney diseases. The department also helps in managing Alcohol related liver disease patients from short term withdrawal management to relapse prevention counselling and pharmacotherapy in long term; as a part of multi-disciplinary comprehensive management. The mission of the department is to integrate both pharmacological treatment and counselling protocols for management of Alcohol use disorder (AUD) in Liver disease patients. The department also aims to develop protocols for resilience measurement and enhancement in end stage liver disease patients.
Additionally, the department takes care of efficient management of psychiatric illnesses in patients presenting to ILBS OPD (with or without comorbid medical illnesses) like depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, sexual dysfunction, and psycho-somatic illnesses.
Consultation liaison services are also being provided to patients admitted in the wards under other departments.
4 beds on semi private phase II second floor have been dedicated for in-patient management of severe withdrawal/ detoxification in liver disease patients with alcohol use.
One key initiative this year was the launch of model Integrated LiHAB (one stop solution for ALD patients- Addiction treatment, lifestyle nutrition counseling and management of liver disease) by Honorable minister Shri Amit Shah ji on the occasion of World Liver day 2025. This can be used to scale up integrated treatment services for Alcohol related liver disease patients across the country.
The department also offers internships to Psychology students to enhance their knowledge with practical skills for patients with Alcohol use disorders and associated co morbidities
The overall vision of the department is to provide all Addiction treatment and Psychiatry services for Liver disease patients under one roof.
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Services Rendered by the department : Till December 2025
1. OPD and Consultation – Liaison
| Services | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPD (Consultation) | 4809 | 5519 | 6177 |
| IPD (Consultation Liaison) | 1217 | 1750 | 1389 |
| Total | 6026 | 7269 | 7566 |
2. AUD (AUD clinic and ward)
| Services | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| New patients enrolled in AUD specialty clinic | 64 | 23 (till September 2025) |
| Ward admissions | 83 | 125 |
New services & facilities added to the department
A new AUD (alcohol use disorder) ward was started in 2023 for management of withdrawal/ detoxification in voluntary patients with alcohol use disorder especially the ones in the high-risk category. Patients are provided pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies for AUD management. They are screened for any co-morbid medical illness like alcohol related liver diseases and are treated in liaison with the department of hepatology.
Educational Activities
a. Educational activities as part of WHOCC centre for Liver diseases: As mandated of WHOCC TOR 2 and 4(Between ILBS and WHO), the department aims at capacity building for enhancing knowledge and skills of healthcare workers in early identification and management of AUDs in Liver disease patients. In collaboration with Department of Epidemiology, ILBS and College of Nursing AIIMS-New Delhi, the department hosted a national webinar on Prevention and Control of NAFLD and ALD which had more than 1000 registrations from across the country.
Future Plans of the Department
- 1. Initiation of Fellowship in Consultation Liaison Addiction Psychiatry (CLAP) The Department of Psychiatry proposes to initiate a Fellowship in Consultation Liaison Addiction Psychiatry (CLAP), a one-year structured training programme aimed at developing specialized expertise at the interface of psychiatry, addiction medicine, hepatology, critical care and transplantation. This programme is expected to strengthen capacity building, enhance multidisciplinary care, promote academic and research activities, and position ILBS as a national centre of excellence in Consultation Liaison and Transplant Psychiatry.
- 2. Establishment of dTMS Facility as an Adjuvant Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder The Department also plans to establish a deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS) facility as an adjuvant, non-pharmacological intervention for reducing alcohol craving in patients with alcohol-related liver disease. This initiative aims to address limitations of pharmacological treatments in patients with hepatic impairment and to provide evidence-based neuromodulation therapy in a safe and supervised setting. The dTMS facility will support clinical care as well as facilitate translational research in addiction psychiatry, contributing to innovation in the management of alcohol use disorders in liver disease.
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