Ranchi, Dec. 4: Indian celebrities do not suffer from mental disorder unlike their western counterparts, declares S. Haque Nizamie, director of the Central Institute of Psychiatry, with a twinkle in his eyes. That is, of course, not strictly true but considerable stigma is still attached to mental disorders and the general tendency is to hide the “skeletons”, more so among the celebs.
While mental disorders do not discriminate between the rich and the famous on one hand and the poorer people on the other, there is a great reluctance to accept the ailment among all sections. He mentions a few names, either of celebrities or their family members, on condition of anonymity. He names a former Indian cricketer, who required medical treatment for a mental disorder, but is certain that he would be sued if the name is disclosed.
“Fortunately, I need not be inhibited while talking about people who are no longer with us,” said Nizamie and mentions names of three great poets, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Majaj and Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala”, who required hospitalisation at the CIP. But psychiatrists regret that none of the Indian celebrities has come forward to help remove the stigma attached to the illness. They have, of late, been coming forward to build awareness about AIDS or even homosexuality but similar campaigns about mental illness are still unheard of.
Psychiatrists also speak of a shameful gender-divide in the country. In mental hospitals, they pointed out, the men outnumber the women. One-third of the patients, or often even less, happen to be women while the majority is men. But it does not mean that women are more immune to mental disorders, they add, but merely indicates societal reluctance to get the women proper medical attention and psychiatric help. Men, as bread-earners, continue to get priority.
It is ironic as rapid advances in psychiatric medicine have led to a sharp reduction in the number of patients requiring hospitalisation. Most of the cases are now treated at the OPD, where patients are generally given a month’s medicine. Even “emergency” cases, when patients are violent, often do not take more than a week’s hospitalisation.
Indeed, mental disorders are increasingly being treated like Diabetes or Hypertension. While diabetics require life-long medication, most mental disorders can now be treated with regular medication. But in India, families continue to delay consulting professional psychiatrists and there is a strong tendency to use self-invented methods of treatment. Early diagnosis and medication can bring about ‘normalcy’ much faster, say psychiatrists. Many of the medicines are also available in liquid form, which can be discreetly administered with food.
Dr ( Brigadier) P.K. Chakraborty, director of Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences ( RINPAS), however , recalls two heart-warming cases, where family members turned up to take away family members who had been languishing in the mental hospital for decades. One of them was a grandson who came from outside the state to take the responsibility of his grandfather. There is a growing awareness, he believes, of mental disorders not being ‘the end of the world’.
Several decades ago, a proposal had been mooted to build a ‘Museum of Mental Health’ in a bid to build awareness about mental disorders and remove the stigma attached to them. Records of celebrity patients, a history of psychiatry as it has evolved, interesting case studies, symptoms, causes and treatment of mental illness etc were to be part of the museum that was planned in Ranchi. But like many such proposals with the government, it was also consigned to a file after the concerned health secretaries were posted to other departments.
