"Greatness lies not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall" Captain Johann samuhanand, BANGALORE INDIA 91 80 42023252 www.captainjohann.blogspot.com
- > * istic' >MANIA PHASE >'Our interest in the mentally ill is largely voyeuristic'Anahita >Mukherji | April 28, 2012 > > > >Mental illness is a rare theme for a first novel. And yet, this is precisely >what writer and journalist Jerry Pinto has chosen to focus on in 'Em and The >Big Hoom', an autobiographical novel about growing up with a mentally ill >mother. The mother in the novel suffers from bipolar disorder, an illness >characterised by phases of extreme depression and periods of mania. While she >grapples to understand herself in her lucid moments, her husband and children >find their lives revolving around her mood-swings, frequent suicide attempts >and phases of madness. Pinto talks to TOI-Crest about how Indian society views >the mentally ill. > >Is there ever a completely normal day in the lives of those living with the >mentally ill? During regular, normal, happy moments, is there a fear that this >is simply the calm before the storm? > >At one level, while dealing with something like this, you are really trying to >live in the moment. Philosophy tells us that what is gone is gone, you can't >be sure of the future and so all you have is the present moment. On a >theoretical level this is very easy to say, but as soon as you try and >implement it, you find it near impossible. You know you only have this moment >and so you must enjoy it. Yet if you're a diabetic, your way of enjoying >yourself for the moment might mean eating a piece of cake, while you know what >that could result in the next day. And so it's a constant negotiation of the >past present and future. > >If you have an alcoholic father, there will be moments of tenderness but then >you know there will be moments that trigger drinking outbursts. I don't think >that living with a mentally ill person is very different from what many other >families live through. Most families have a Sword of Damocles hanging over >their head. That sword is love. If you don't love the person in distress, you >can easily deal with alcoholism or cancer. It is when you love the person that >you become vulnerable. > >Your book talks of how the periods of mania are awful, but the periods of >depression are even worse. Could you comment on this? > >In both phases what is really painful is that you can do nothing but stand by >and wait till it's over. In the mania phase, there is a complete breakdown of >communication, where the person is listening to a script that comes from >somewhere else. And depression is a solitary universe that encloses the person >and cuts them off from you. You lose your loved one in both phases. > >During the mania you say: 'Why can't you just be depressed' and when the >person is depressed, you say 'I promise I'll never hope for this. Just come >back and start raging again'. You keep making promises to yourself, only to >break them. > >What would you say to the family members of those who are mentally ill and who >may well want to hide the patient in a closet? > >Would you hide someone who has diabetes or a thyroid problem? It's the same >thing here - just a bunch of hormones and chemicals in your bloodstream that >have gone wrong and cause things to misfire. The only way to de-stigmatise >mental illness is to tell oneself constantly that it's as simple as having >diabetes, though the symptoms may be more dramatic than diabetes. Everybody >finds their own way to deal with the situation. It's a negotiation between >rage, vulnerability and a feeling of 'Why me?' > >You've used the word 'mad' so many times in the novel? The mother in the novel >calls herself mad. Why? > >Families have various ways of dealing with such situations. One such method >involves confronting the problem and dragging it out in the open. Using the >word 'madness' lightly and tossing it around is a way of trying to defang it >and turn it into something ordinary, which it is not. This is a rather ironic >way of dealing with the situation. Because it's said as a joke, it's also >terribly serious. It's a turning point in one's life when a person says 'I am >mad'. When Em (the mother in the novel) calls herself mad, she is challenging >people to examine what they are saying about her. At some point in time, every >one of us has felt that we are not in tune with the universe. > >While your novel shows how normal people with mental illness can fall in love >or worry about a household, do you feel mental illness is dehumanised in >India? The word 'paagal' is used to define a whole range of conditions. > >India is a hundred years behind the times in its discourse on mental health. >Not long ago I saw a 14-year-old boy in a mental hospital because he was >hyperactive in class and would hit fellow students. The boy said he was being >administered electric shocks. When I questioned the nurse, she said his >parents had agreed to it. > >People believe this is necessary to cure the patient. It's a case of >conquering the illness but allowing the patient to die. This is not something >that's happening only in small towns but in the country's largest metros. > >Psychiatric social workers in mental hospitals are found handling psychotropic >drugs when they are not supposed to. And yet the argument is that there are so >few trained psychiatrists in the country compared with the population of >people who need treatment. There is no time to have therapy sessions with all >those who need help and so shocks and pills are often used to cure the >symptoms. > >In Indian society, the interest in a person with mental illness remains >largely voyeuristic. In Bollywood, there's usually a comedy element to it;the >mad man is shown jumping about, dancing by himself and talking to God. The >other set of mentally ill patients are depicted as psychopaths and murders. >This is really sad. In India it's easy to dehumanise anyone who is not like >oneself - someone from another caste, religion or sexuality. > >The book talks about how during the mother's funeral, for the first time, the >house is flooded with guests. Is this another fall-out of a disease like manic >depression - that friends, relatives and neighbours don't drop by? > >While it's extremely uncomfortable for other people to visit, the person with >the mental illness may have problems with other people around. In the >depressive phase, the patient refuses to meet anyone. During the manic phases, >it may be very disconcerting for other people to hear someone who is their >mother's age talk about their sex life. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers
