India’s mental health landscape is awakening and aching. With almost one in seven Indians suffering psychological distress, the demand for inclusive, stigma-free care becomes louder with each passing day. And yet underlying this growing awareness is an even greater silence of shame, neglect, unaccessibility, and over-strained systems. Mental health, for most, remains behind closed doors and hushed tones. It is into this silence that Dr Ashish Deshpande steps not with noise, but with quiet conviction. With empathy in his heart and neuroscience in his mind, he has emerged as one of India’s most respected psychiatrists. A pioneer not only in clinical excellence but in shaping the emotional, social, and policy dimensions of psychiatry, he gives voice to the unspoken and dignity to the unheard.

Dr Ashish Deshpande ’s journey into psychiatry wasn’t linear. As a young medical student at KEM Hospital, Mumbai, he found himself at a crossroads. Surrounded by the harsh realities of medicine but craving something more human, some thing more profound, he often felt drawn to questions no stethoscope could settle. A brief chat with a senior psychiatrist turned his world around. In psychiatry, he discovered not only a specialty but also a mission, where the mind, its secrets, and its resilience became the canvas of his life. Over the decades, his training moved beyond MBBS degrees and fellowships. It became experience, gleaned from rural corners, fractured urban clinics, school corridors, addiction treatment centers, and community centers where healing was a matter of listening first and diagnosing second.

The Samarpan Philosophy

Central to Dr Ashish Deshpande’s evolving legacy is his work at Samarpan, not just an initiative, but a sanctuary shaped by recognized global standards of care, compassion and ethics. Through his contri -butions to a modern multi-disciplinary treatment model, Samarpan continues to offer refuge to those grappling with the invisible scars of mental illness. Here, there are no rushed prescriptions or judgmental glances. Only space to be heard, seen, and understood. His philosophy is deeply patient centered.

Dr Ashish Deshpande believes in treating not just the illness but the individual. Every session is a quiet rebellion against the stigma that has long clung to mental health like an unwanted shadow. His domain of expertise spans two of the most stigmatized corners of mental health, addiction psychiatry and school mental health. And yet, he’s made them visible, even urgent. For over 30 years, he has addressed the vulnerable cross roads where adolescence meets addiction, where curiosity meets risk, and where early intervention can either save or lose a life. Working in both rural Maharashtra and urban India, he has designed programs that bring mental health literacy into

classrooms and addiction support into the mainstream. His approach is not just medical, it’s empathetic. “If you are able to wipe off one tear from a person, then you’ve done something good in your life”, Dr Ashish Deshpande often says.

But empathy alone isn’t enough. Over the years, he has come up against structural challenges like bureaucratic inertia, public stigma, policy voids, and funding gaps. Instead of yielding, he’s fought harder. He has led awareness campaigns, marched with students, spoken at town halls, and written countless papers and policy recommendations. He has pushed for the integration of mental health into primary health systems and advocated for the dignity of patients as non-negotiable. He has presented papers at national and international forums and authored mental health frameworks that have informed school programs and de-addiction policies. A recent seminar he led on ‘Innovative and Accessible Non-Clinical Mental Health Solutions in Indian Schools’ sparked dialogue across disciplines, highlighting how child psychiatry must evolve with changing times. Yet for all his accolades, he remains accessible.

Dr Ashish Deshpande’s story is not just about treating the mind, it’s about healing the soul of a society slowly learning to speak about what hurts

Psychiatry Meets Technology

Dr Ashish Deshpande is also keenly aware of the role technology can play in democratizing mental health. From telepsychiatry consultations to digital self-help tools, he’s been a proponent of using technology to bridge access especially in post-COVID India, where the need for remote care exploded. His programs have brought mental health support into homes that were once unreachable due to geography, social stigma, or cost. In this, he is not just innovating he is humanizing the digital shift in healthcare. Behind every clinical case he handles is a story of resilience, recovery, and rediscovery. One patient, a young man battling alcohol addiction and suicidal thoughts, now runs a de-addiction support group in Pune. A teenage girl with crippling anxiety went on to top her class after just a few months of therapy. These aren’t just success stories, they are lives reclaimed, narratives rewritten. He remembers each one. Not for their diagnosis, but for their courage. Dr Ashish Deshpande often says, “Patients are not case files. They are people who trusted you with their pain. That is sacred”.

Recognition has followed him not because he seeks it, but because impact leaves a trail. His work was featured on Satyamev Jayate, the landmark TV show hosted by Aamir Khan, which brought mental health into India’s living rooms. He’s received multiple awards for his work in psychiatry, but what he values most is when a former patient drops in years later, happy, healed, and thriving.

Future Vision

Looking forward, Dr Ashish Deshpande’s vision is clear, to create a mental health ecosystem that is stigma-free, inclusive, and rooted in both compassion and evidence. He continues to advocate for addiction to be viewed as a disease, not a moral failing, and pushes for systems where care is not a privilege but a right. In him, India finds not just a psychiatrist but a conscience keeper for mental health. A man who listens not just to what is said, but to what is silenced. And in doing so, he gives the voiceless a way back to themselves.

Awards & Recognition:

•Gold Medallist (Post Graduation) - Mumbai University1994
•Y D Phadke Scholarship for Social Research 2000-2002
•Indian Associations of Retired Persons and Hinduja Foundation Scholarship for community work with senior citizens
•Anti-Dowry Movement Oration 2008
•Invited for 3 speakers meet of International Convention of AA - San Antanio, USA 2008
•Invited as an expert for Satyameva Jayate episode on Alcoholism
•Invited for multiple orations at University of Mumbai and affiliated colleges
•Recipient of community initiated achievement awards from Rotary Action Group Addiction Prevention, India for addiction prevention work
•Appointed and working as Honorary Chairman of Advisory Committee on Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA)