Day care centres to give succour to mentally ill

16-Jun-2014

BANGALORE : All district hospitals in the State will soon have a Day Care Centre to help patients with mental illnesses recover soon. They will also offer vocational training to them post recovery.

The centres will be started on a public-private partnership model by the State government. A team of experts will facilitate starting of the centres. Based on the interest and abilities of individuals, they will be trained in various fields. Patients will be taught simple tasks such as candle-making, craft work and computers.

Dr Mamata, district family welfare officer and mental health officer, Bangalore, told Deccan Herald that they had invited applications from non-government and voluntary organisations to set up the centres. Each of these centres has been allotted Rs 1.6 lakh, she said. The NGOs are expected to satisfy a list of conditions to get permission to start the centres.

“Among the main conditions are that they should have a minimum of three years experience in the field of mental health and an able psychiatrist on board who can treat patients,” Mamata said. Along with the psychiatrist, social workers who will be a part of the team will be entrusted with the responsibility of counselling the family members.

This facility had to be put in place by November last year. However, due to various technical challenges, it was put off. Officials hope that the first-of-its-kind initiative will be operational in a month.

Mamata said that since Bangalore did not have a district hospital of its own, C V Raman Hospital in Indiranagar was chosen for starting the centre. The office of the district health officer had, earlier this month, invited applications from non-governmental organisations to start the day care centres.

The officer has received five applications so far.

“Of the five NGOs that have applied, only two fulfil the criteria,” she said. A committee formed by the deputy commissioner is looking into further details, the officer said. Once the centres are approved, there will be a review of their functioning every three months, she added.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/414111/day-care-centres-give-succour.html

Woman dies; aged sisters lock police out

15-Jun-2014

The sisters had similarly locked themselves in when their adopted daughter died last month.

KOCHI : Two aged sisters of a 92-year-old woman who had died at her home on Thursday locked the police out when they came to help on Saturday morning. The sisters, who led a reclusive life, had similarly locked themselves in when their adopted daughter Rajarajeswari died last month.

Alli, 92, a resident of Mathai Manjooran Road at Pachalam, died at her home of natural causes on Thursday. Her sisters Santha, 82, and mentally-challenged Baby, 68, live a secluded life and avoid contact with neighbours. The death was discovered by an insurance agent who came to the house to inform them about a matured policy. The agent immediately informed the neighbours, who alerted the police. The two women, however, resisted the attempts of the police to enter the house and remove the body. “We had to break the door open like we did last time to rescue both women,” said an officer.

Police had rescued the three women and put them in a hospital after Rajarajeswari passed away due to illness on May 18. The women, however, came back home soon after. Santha and Baby have been admitted to the General Hospital again by the police.

The body, which had disintegrated a little in the two days since the death, was sent for post-mortem examination.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/woman-dies-aged-sisters-lock-police-out/article6116708.ece

Woman locks kids in house, suspects husband conniving to harm them

4-May-2014

Gagandeep Singh Dhillon

Summary : The woman is suffering from psychiatric disorder and needs treatment: Doctors.

CHANDIGARH : A woman suspected to be mentally ill has locked her college-going daughter and school-going son in their house in Manimajra over a month, due to ‘delusions’ about her husband conniving with neighbours to harm them, according to doctors at the Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

Psychiatrists said that the two have been locked in the house by the ‘well-built’ and ‘violent’ 43-year-old mother due to which the daughter missed her annual Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) examinations, while the 15-year-old son could not enrol himself in the school for the new session (names of family withheld).

Her husband, an ex-serviceman, approached the crisis intervention team of the Psychiatry Department a month ago and said that his wife, who has a history of mental illness, had been refusing to open the door of their house and was getting “verbally and physically abusive”. In fact, she tried to cut the electric wire of their tenant with scissors out of aggressiveness, he said.

The father got worried about their safety and requested the team to get her treated. “Since, she was highly violent, the team approached her house with the help of the local police. However, she got angry and claimed that she is mentally fit as she can recall everything and has no symptoms of any disorder. However, assessment of her behaviour led us to believe that she is suffering from psychiatric disorder and needs treatment,” said an official of the crisis intervention team.

The psychiatrist added, “The woman had a quarrel with a neighbour a few years ago. Now, she suspects that her husband is into an extra-marital relationship with the neighbour and both of them are planning to harm her children. It is this delusion due to which she has turned extremely protective and even violent.”

The team said that although some of the residents of the area are supporting her as they believe she is behaving normally, her immediate neighbours and family members have seen her hurling bricks down the pavement and using abusive language without a provocation. “Her well-wishers are extremely concerned about her children, who are not being allowed to see the light of day. In fact, we took help from the SSP and approached the patient again recently. But a mob of residents gathered at the spot and we had to retreat,” said officials.

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/woman-locks-kids-in-house-suspects-husband-conniving-to-harm-them/

Local faith healers sensitized on right way to cure mental disorders

27-APR-2014

MADURAI : Many still trust in faith healers for curing diseases and pay a heavy price for it in the form of worsening health issues and harmful medication. Most people relying on such quacks are from the economically weaker strata of the society. Psychiatrists have sensitized nearly 300 faith healers in Madurai and Ramanathapuram districts thorough an initiative of the state mental health programme.

Insane people from rural areas are usually brought to village priests. They now refer such patients to nearby clinics. This helps many psychiatric cases to get medical attention at the earliest and put them on the road to recovery. The district mental health programme was launched to involve the community in treatment of mental illnesses. At present, it is being implemented in 16 districts in the state.

Dr C Ramasubramanian, state nodal officer for the mental health programme, said religion plays an important role in our country, more so in the mental health aspect. People believe that psychiatric illnesses and disorders were due to black magic which could be cured only by divine intervention. Treatment of psychiatric patients usually leads to human rights violations as patients are subjected to torture like chaining, beating and isolation. As soon as problems are identified religious remedies rather than conventional treatments are sought by people.

Dr Ramasubramanian said 3% of the population in India was suffering from serious mental illnesses which required immediate attention. If minor disorders are taken into account the figure may be higher. Quacks are still relevant as their treatment comes cheap. Besides, there is shortage of psychiatrists, he noted, while admitting that scientific studies and experience showed that unqualified medical practitioners dealt with minor problems effectively as they are aware of the culture and sentiments of the individual.

Convincing local priests under the programme was not an easy task as they initially felt that they would be deprived of their livelihood. With much persuasion they attended a sensitization programme at a rehabilitation home run by the M S Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation in Madurai. They were shown that people with mental problem could be cured and helped to lead a normal life.

“They were made to interact with patients and overcome their misconceptions. After that faith healers refer patients to mental health clinics in district hospitals, paving way for their speedier recovery,” Dr Ramasubramanian said.

The opening of the Dawa and Dua, spirituality-linked mental health centre at Erwadi Dargah, is a step in the right direction. It has changed the way patients are treated at the Dargah which is a popular place for cure of mental illnesses, he added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Local-faith-healers-sensitized-on-right-way-to-cure-mental-disorders/articleshow/34263804.cms

Mentally ill mom, children rescued

26-Apr-2014

They had been living isolated for six years in a Phase 9 house

MOHALI : In a bizarre incident, three unattended, mentally ill members of a family were found living in a house in Phase 9 where they had locked themselves for several years. They were brought to the civil hospital by the police, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and an NGO on Wednesday.

Preliminary findings by the police and doctors suggest that the three, a woman and her grown-up son and daughter, had not come out of their house for around six years and were being provided food by the woman’s husband, an old and sick person himself, who was living away due to fear of being attacked by them.

The three has been identified as Jaswant Kaur, who appeared to be in her late 50s, her son Inderdeep Singh, and daughter Amandeep Kaur, both in their late 20s. All three looked weak and much older for their age.

“Preliminary diagnosis suggests that at least two of them have a serious mental disorder. The mother is comparatively more stable. They will probably be referred to the Institute of Mental Health in Amritsar,” said Dr Harinder Singh, the psychiatrist who spoke to them. Their plight was reported by two Chandigarh-based human rights activists to Prabh Aasra, an organisation working for the homeless.

The NGO, in turn, informed Mohali CJM Tarntaran Singh Bindra, who heads the DLSA. Bindra approached the police and they went to the family’s house around 6 pm.

“When we entered the house and knocked at the door, it was opened instantly as the three of them probably thought it was a call for food. When we told them that we did not have any food, they got aggressive and told us to leave. We then took them to the hospital on the pretext of making them meet their father (woman’s husband). They are all in a bad shape, wearing winter clothes and having overgrown hair,” police said.

Jaswant and her children were then taken to a hospital in Phase 6, where Mohali Additional District and Sessions Judge P P Singh also paid a visit. They demanded to see Jaswant’s husband J S Baidwan, who was traced by Prabh Aasra and the DLSA in Chandigarh, were he was staying in an ashram.

“The husband is mentally stable, but very feeble. He alleged that he was attacked by the children whenever he went to the house, so he moved out. But he ensured that the family was provided food, so he hired a local eatery owner to deliver them food regularly. He has been taken to the hospital, and has been kept separately. Lately, it seems he had become too feeble and sick to cater to their needs,” said Bindra.

Prabh Aasra member Karam Singh said that they were surprised that the neighbours never informed any authority about their existence. Jaswant Kaur claimed that her husband was a retired Superintending Engineer.

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/mentally-ill-mom-children-rescued/

Drive to help

Meet the volunteers of Agal Foundation, who have rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of destitute men and women in the city

22-Apr-2014

Akila Kannadasan

CHENNAI : Forty-five auto drivers and 10 taxi drivers form the core of Agal Foundation, an NGO that has been rescuing and rehabilitating the destitute in the city. It all began in 1995, when S.M. Venkatesh, the founder, met Selvam. “I found him on the streets of T. Nagar. He was mentally ill and physically in a very bad condition too,” recalls Venkatesh.

Venkatesh was employed in a courier service back then and barely made money to make ends meet. But he decided to do something for Selvam. “I bought two bars of soap, and a shampoo, bathed him in a friend’s car shed and disinfected his wounds,” he says. Selvam recovered miraculously. “He started walking!” smiles Venkatesh. That marked the beginning of his lifelong commitment for the destitute.

He has rescued hundreds of people from the streets and admitted them at rehabilitation homes. This includes the mentally ill, children from broken homes, and the elderly left uncared for by their children. Vasanthi, auto drivers Dharman, Velan, Saravanan and Raja, advocate Udaya Kumar, Muthukrishnan, Surendran, Charumathy, taxi driver Ramesh… Venkatesh made a lot of kind-hearted friends along the way who joined his cause.

Today, he has a reliable network of auto drivers in the city who will drive the destitute to orphanages whenever they receive a call from Venkatesh. “They also call me up when they see someone suffering on the streets,” he says. Agal’s is a coordinated set-up that also gets rescue calls from people in the Police Department. Also, Venkatesh, who currently works at the Secretariat, ensures that he submits memos to the police station in the jurisdiction of where the rescue happened as well as the rehabilitation home.

Each of them in the team has unforgettable rescues. Vasanthi, for instance, recalls rescuing a mentally ill pregnant woman. “This is how she looks now,” she says, extending a photo of a healthy-looking lady. “She gave birth to a little girl called Angel,” she smiles.

Udaya Kumar, who has been part of Agal for 12 years, will never forget the elderly man he helped rehabilitate. “It was approximately 12.30 a.m. when Venkatesh called me for assistance. I had seen the thaatha on and off on near Arumbakkam and was glad to help in his rescue.” It was raining heavily that night; but despite it all, they managed to save a life.

For socially inclined auto drivers such as Raja, Agal is the perfect platform for helping people in need. “Auto drivers are not respected. They are seen as ill-mannered and rash. There have been instances when I’ve taken accident victims to the hospital and have been asked if I ran over them myself.” But Agal earns him respect and the confidence to act without reservations. “That’s what I take back, I don’t expect anything else,” he says.

Auto driver Dharman too says that he volunteers for Agal for the satisfaction he gets when he sees that even a little effort on his part can save a life. “All of us want to do something to help the abandoned.

But we don’t know how to do it. It sometimes makes all the difference to seek the help of someone for the right course of action.”

Ask anyone at Agal and they will tell you that they spend their time and energy to help people because of the aathma thripthi (satisfaction) they get. Says Venkatesh: “This is our involuntary response to a problem.”

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/drive-to-help/article5937264.ece

CRHP Mental Health Program: Repaving Old Paths

25-Mar-2014

Sarita Panchang

Jamkhed : According to the World Health Organization, roughly 450 million people around the world suffer from a mental illness. In 2010, basic mental and behavioral conditions such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse caused almost a fourth of total years of life lost due to disability .

Doubtless, the global prevalence of mental disorders is a pressing public health concern. Mental health is affected by socioeconomic, biological, and environmental factors – and goes much further than simply the absence of a mental disorder. Furthermore, the political and structural climate of an area, such as the presence of poverty or other types of inequality, can have a broad impact on the expression of mental health conditions, and so mental health programs should be sensitive of context and cultural issues as well.

For over 30 years, CRHP has worked in hundreds of villages in rural India, providing the support and resources for communities to bring about social change through empowerment and health. At the heart of CRHP programs is the village health worker (VHW), a woman who is selected by her village to receive training at CRHP each week along with several other VHWs from nearby villages, in order to be an essential first line of healthcare and health education for her community. Through the formation of additional grassroots collectives – Farmer’s Clubs and women’s self-help groups – there is a system of support through which VHWs can spread knowledge on not just health-related topics such as sanitation, prenatal care, and nutrition, but also on pressing social issues such as caste injustice, treatment of women, and alcoholism.

CRHP has shown that through a community-based and social approach, radical changes in quality of life can be achieved – for instance, in 1970, when programs first began, the infant mortality rate in the Jamkhed block was 176 per 1,000 live births. Many project villages today average about 18 per 1,000 live births (far lower than the national average), and less than 5% of children suffer from malnourishment. It is time to apply the Jamkhed Model toward tackling major mental health issues in our communities.

As a holistic view of health has always been a key tenet of CRHP’s work, the importance of mental well-being and removing stigma or blame from mental illness have been a key part of VHW and mobile health team (MHT) trainings. From 2003 to 2011, CRHP conducted needs-assessment research in project villages and found that the most prevalent mental illnesses are behavioral conditions like anxiety, depression, substance abuse, stress, violence and trauma, and psychosomatic conditions. A small fraction of the population suffers from more severe conditions such as schizophrenia. Among youth, we observed various factors associated with psychosocial stress. Among boys, challenges included anger management, conflict resolution, and issues with the opposite gender, often leading to violent behavior. Among girls, persistent issues have included anxiety and depression as well as feeling restricted in decisions and access to education. Being at the cusp of adulthood and poised to set a precedent for the well-being of future generations in their village, the challenges of these youth are especially crucial to address.

Based on these findings, CRHP has received a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to establish the comprehensive Mental Health Program (MHP). Just as the key actor in village-level health programming is the VHW, the MHP will be largely based on a “barefoot” counselor, who will serve the village as counselor and facilitator. The counselor will likely be someone already in a leadership position, such as a member of a women’s self-help group, but ultimately, the choice will be up to the village, as is the case for VHWs. The individual will receive intensive training from physicians and consultant psychiatrists at CRHP in biomedical approaches toward psychotherapy, and will be equipped to refer complicated cases for more intensive care or drug prescriptions, with the help of the local VHW or MHT. At the same time, the counselor will be a member of their local community with a keen sense of the cultural context and pre-existing beliefs surrounding various mental health issues, and will have the trust of local villagers. This dual capability will make the counselor ideal as a first line of mental health support for other community members. Through the formation of regular support groups, the counselor can also disseminate knowledge and be a leader in a safe space for people to voice their issues.

Local youth will be able to speak to their village counselors as well, but in order to provide more specialized support, peer groups will take place at CRHP once a week for a month of training. Twenty youth from each of two villages will go through month-long sessions together, and there will be separate groups for boys and girls. This scheme is similar to our existing Adolescent Programs but will be more exclusively geared toward exchanging peer support with those in the same, as well as neighboring villages, ultimately setting the stage for healthier adolescent years.

Through the MHP, we aim to cause a 25% drop in the incidence of mental illness – especially depression and anxiety – as compared to the levels that will be found in our baseline survey prior to implementation. We also aim to promote awareness among village youth of mental health issues and daily life stressors, as well as culturally appropriate strategies to address these stressors, which will be assessed through pre- and post-session evaluations.

With the advent of the Mental Health Program this spring, CRHP is embarking on a new initiative – though in many ways, there is nothing unusual about this project. We are still tackling a prominent health issue hand-in-hand with communities, through locally relevant approaches that are informed by scientific knowledge. Sustainability is a key factor here; like the VHWs, counselors are chosen by their own neighbors, and if they are one day unable or not willing to continue, a new counselor will be selected. Existing village programs like Farmer’s Clubs and Women’s Groups also help provide infrastructure and the space to try out new initiatives like this one. Stay tuned this April as we launch the program!

https://jamkhed.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/crhp-mental-health-program-repaving-old-paths/

Jharkhand woman reunited with family after 12 years

9-Jul-2013

VELLORE: A 70-year-old mentally and physically challenged woman, who was rescued from Melvisharam area in December 2012 by a local NGO, was reunited with her family in Jharkhand on Sunday.

After being rescued, the woman was examined by a local psychiatrist Dr Zubaida and was admitted to an Old Age Home run by an NGO at Murukkeri.

Later, some Hindi-speaking students helped identify her as Mobina from Mirpur, in Jharkhand, social worker Mazhar of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind helped locate the woman’s family and found the her husband 80-year-old Yasin Ansari living with his mentally ill son and four daughters at Mirpur village, deep in the jungles in Chatra district, near Ranchi.

A volunteer from Arcot, Sathish, accompanied the women by train to her village. When the woman was taken back to the village on Sunday, all the villagers gathered and received her. According to Ansari, his wife had vanished about 12 years ago. “The old man was in tears when he saw his wife. But, she did not recognise him,” Sathish said.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Jharkhand-woman-reunited-with-family-after-12-years/2013/07/09/article1674132.ece

Mentally challenged woman reunited with family in Jharkand

A mentally disturbed woman in her seventies, found in Mel Visharam in Vellore district, was reunited with her family in Jharkand thanks to the efforts taken by Uthavum Ullangal, a Vellore-based service organisation.

According to V. Thara, a volunteer with Uthavum Ullangal, the woman was identified to be Mobina Kathun wife of Yasin Ansari from Mirpur in the Chatra district of Jharkand with the help of Hindi and Urdu speaking volunteers. “Jamaat-e-islami Hind helped us in locating the family,” she said.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/mentally-challenged-woman-reunited-with-family-in-jharkand/article4896923.ece

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Childline rescues girl

5-Mar-013

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : “She looked happy and smiled when she was given a new dress,” said S.K.Ratheesh , a staff of Childline, a 24-hour emergency service for children in distress, about two-and-a-half-year-old Annu (name changed).

The rescue team at Childline found her on Monday on the streets at Ottur, near Kallambalam, in the company of seven stray dogs and a mentally challenged grandmother.

The team had received a call on 1098, the 24-hour emergency number for children in distress, on Sunday night. “The caller said he had seen the child in pathetic living conditions, abandoned by the mother during mornings when she goes for work. The only company was a mentally challenged old woman. We reached the spot on Monday morning. She wore no dress, street dogs were playing around her, and the whole place was in a very deplorable condition,” said Mr. Ratheesh.

The team informed the police and with the help of a few local people drove away the dogs and rescued the child.

“The elderly woman, presumed to be the child’s grandmother, did not say a word or react when we took the child. We informed the Child Welfare Committee and as per the order, the child was taken to the childcare centre at the Missionaries of Charity home at Kunnukuzhi,” said the staff.

The child’s mother, who the local people say is working at a pump station near Attingal, has been asked to present herself before the committee hearing on Tuesday. Further actions will be taken after a meeting with the child’s mother, said an official at Childline.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/childline-rescues-girl/article4477843.ece

 

 

 

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