Dr. Nicholas Christy

About Dr. Nicholas Christy

Dr. Nicholas Christy is a Consultant Neuro Psychiatrist in Kollam and the founder and chief of Nicholas Memorial Centre for Mental Health & De-Addiction. Colleagues describe him as a psychiatrist with a soft touch, known for simple, effective treatment.

He completed his MBBS at T.D. Medical College, Alappuzha. He then worked in Europe, including London and Ireland, for almost a decade. During those years he earned the Diploma in Psychological Medicine (D.P.M.) from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ireland. He went on to train in neurology at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, where he specialised in de-addiction.

He is a Fellow of the Indian Psychiatric Society (F.I.P.S.) and a qualified hypnotherapist (Eire). He uses clinical hypnotherapy, alongside medical treatment, for problems such as anxiety, depression, tension headache, obsessions and smoking.

Beyond the clinic he is known as a teacher of younger doctors, a footballer and sportsman, and a singer. At medical college he was remembered as the "golden voice" of T.D. Medical College.

Leadership and community service

• State Secretary, Indian Psychiatric Society
• State President, Psychosocial Service Society
• Member, State Working Committee, Indian Medical Association (IMA)
• President, Secretary and Treasurer of an IMA branch
• Played a key role in setting up the blood bank in Kollam
• Rotarian since 1988; Charter President of a Rotary Club from 2010
• Active member of the Medical Library and the Doctors' Recreation Centre
• Clinical teacher in psychiatry for nursing students from L.M.S. B.B. Hospital Kundara, Parabrahma, Kristu Jayanthi, Perumpuzha, V.N.S.S. and Bishop Benziger nursing schools, from 2009 onwards (see the gallery)

His approach

Recovery from addiction needs more than detoxification. His programmes combine detox, counselling, group therapy and regular follow-up, so that people can return to a normal life. Those who know him describe a doctor who is honest, humble, hardworking and not money-minded.

Clinical interests

• Alcohol and drug de-addiction
• Neuropsychiatry
• Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
• Personality disorders
• Depression, anxiety and obsessions
• Clinical hypnotherapy, including for tension headache and smoking