Dr. Karthik Manohar Rao is a Consultant Psychiatrist with over two decades of clinical experience in the assessment and management of adults with a wide spectrum of psychiatric and behavioural presentations. He has been practising at Omkar Mind Care Clinic, Mumbai, for over 20 years and has extensive experience managing patients across outpatient, acute psychiatric, rehabilitation, and community settings.

His clinical work involves understanding the complex interaction between cognition, attention, emotional regulation, behaviour, interpersonal functioning and psychological well-being—domains that are particularly relevant when understanding neurodivergent individuals in adult and workplace settings. His experience includes the management of anxiety, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, substance-use disorders and other psychiatric presentations, with an emphasis on individualised assessment and functional recovery.

Dr. Rao has also been involved in psychiatric assessment, medical education and community mental-health programmes, and has taught medical and postgraduate students. His academic and research experience includes work on psychiatric morbidity, depression in older adults, aggression in psychiatric in-patients, and psychopathology in children of individuals with alcohol dependence.

He has conducted mental-health and resilience programmes for leading corporates, including Hindustan Unilever, translating clinical psychiatric knowledge into practical strategies for workplace well-being.

For “Neurodiversity Awareness: Building Fluency, Not Just Goodwill,” Dr. Rao brings a clinician’s perspective to understanding adult neurodivergence, recognising differences in cognitive and behavioural functioning, distinguishing neurodivergence from psychiatric illness, reducing stigma, and understanding practical workplace needs and adjustments.

Video: