6 Feb 10, Wednesday: Mumbai Mirror, Wednesday, 3 Feb 10: page 7 – “won’t die alone, will blow up the entire building”

A really distressing and dichotomous situation where you have a mentally deranged man in desperate need of treatment and rehabilitation on one side and families in that person’s neighbourhood who are naturally worried about their safety and that of their loved ones.

A classic case which highlights the sorry state of affairs in our country for the mentally unstable and their families; lack of awareness and apathy being the prime suspects.  Most mentally-challenged require special care, medication & treatment and above all, 24/7 supervision, the absence of which threatens the safety of not only the patient but also the people living around him.  In extreme cases, hospitalisation is strongly recommended and cities like Mumbai have facilities where such care is possible.
However, hospitalisation is just the beginning, it is the rehabilitation process which is critical to the successful treatment of the mentally-challenged and the family alone cannot be held accountable for the same; the society in which this individual lives has to show empathy and take responsibility to help such individuals live a respectable life.
Having said that, it is the patient’s family’s responsibility to first ensure the safety of the residents of their neighbourhood before assuming their active participation in the rehab process.
Taking members of the society in which they live into confidence and being transparent about the medical condition of the person in question could perhaps be a start to reaching a common ground – that of successfully rehabilitating the mentally-challenged.

Shunning people who need our help the most is certainly not the humane solution.