You ought to take mental illness seriously
Acting in time may save your family from serious trouble
Ninad’s
parents were very happy that Ninad was an independent child. The only son of
working parents, Ninad used to be on his own during the day with an old
grandmother at home. He was in the 11th Std and in college – the best
college for science. He was a good boy, polite, obedient, a good student and a
confident young lad. He was friendly and had an excellent relationship with his
parents.
However,
lately, Ninad used to be quiet at home and not his usual self. He used to spend
a lot of time in his room with his door shut according to his grandmother. His
parents thought it was natural for a teenager, given the weird ways of this
age. So the issue became a non-issue as soon as it had cropped up.Six months
later, Ninad had to be admitted for de-addiction – he had become a drug addict.
This
story is shocking, yet quite common. With working parents and the freedom and
exposure children get, one never knows when even the so-called good kids give
in to temptations and then succumb to them.
Could
Ninad’s parents have stopped this? Can Ninad be helped?
The
answer to both these question is a YES. Ninad’s parents could have stopped this
much before, had they paid more attention to the change in his behavior – of
locking himself in his room even when he was alone in the house, with only an
old grandmother for company. Drug addicts or newcomers to the drug world
usually hide behind closed doors to take a shot. After repeated indulgence,
their behavior starts changing – they start becoming irritable, lost in their
own world and start hiding – something. Like Ninad, there are many people, who
are victims of substance abuse – drugs, alcohol and smoking. Like Ninad, there
are many others, from our families, our near and dear ones who may be suffering
from some other mental disorders. It could be anything - like depression,
schizophrenia and anxiety and stress disorders. Initially though, most of these
may sound harmless, but if not noticed and reported may balloon into disasters
beyond our help.
Unfortunately,
even if you may have noticed a change in behavior, you may choose to do nothing
about it, just wishing it to go away. The bitter truth is that most people
cannot accept mental illness amongst their kith and kin. They fear social
stigma, after they have sought the help of a psychiatrist. It is true that
even in the modern age, the mentally ill are looked down upon by society as a
nuisance and a disgrace to the family, community and therefore the larger
society.
But what
is more important to you, needs to be decided.
Is ‘what
your neighbors say’ more important or ‘is your close one’s mental health’ more
important to you?
If you
don’t try and arrest the mental illness at an early stage, it can develop into
something that may cause serious trouble to the one suffering from it and to
his close ones.
We agree
that you may not be able to ‘diagnose’ like a doctor and sometimes recognizing
symptoms may be difficult or may result in a false alarm. If it is the latter,
we will be only too happy, but if it is a positive diagnosis and the person is
indeed suffering, you should be taking the first step to treat him and turn him
around into a normal, fine person that he is.
What is
crucial is to be alert so you can pinpoint a noticeable change in behavior. The
next thing is to accept it and report it immediately to a psychiatrist. The
mentally ill, just like the physically ill are in dire need of the right
treatment at the right time and care from their family.
With the
right help, the mentally ill can be turned into the mentally well.
We
regularly have seminars on various mental illnesses to make you aware of
things, of illnesses, their symptoms and how the mentally ill can be helped.
The first one in the series will be on Anxiety and Depression. If you are
interested in attending this seminar, do write to us at drjahagirdarrohan@gmail.com with
the subject line as ‘Seminar on Anxiety and Depression’.
