Unfortunately, shunning mental health issues have led to terrible consequences. In a recent meeting, Bikram, a master’s degree student in Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, told me, “This is the first time that I am going to tell an outsider about the tragic story of my family ravaged by mental illness.”
Bikram said, “My father is 68 years old and has been surviving with mental illness since the past 43 years. When I was a child, I witnessed the agonizing death of my elder brother. I remember his dead body hanging from a rope. My brother, who was in his thirties, committed suicide to avoid the burden of mental illness. In 2003, I helplessly watched my younger sister die in a hospital bed while undergoing treatment. She too was suffering from mental disorder but the doctors ignored her mental health and merely sought treatment for her physical ailment. Her life could have been saved if they had paid attention to her mental health condition. I lost her when she was 22 years old. Her death caused my mother to suffer a nervous breakdown and become mentally ill. My elder sister, who is married and is a mother of two, lives with us because she too is afflicted with mental illness. She started displaying symptoms after my brother-in-law left for Qatar.”
I stared at Bikram’s face. I tried my best to fathom his fears, humiliations, loneliness and the difficulties of having to look after the whole family all by himself. The state and society has failed to comprehend the sufferings of people like Bikram and they are left to fend for themselves.
It was not the end of his story. He continued, “I am living with a physically disabling condition.” It was shocking to know that a disabled individual was burdened with such responsibilities. He further added, “I don’t have a stable source of income to meet the costs of medicines that amount to thousands of rupees each month.” I could clearly see the misery in Bikram’s eyes.
There are various causes of mental illness. It can be hereditary or triggered by migration, separation from family, poverty, chemical imbalance, violence, conflict, physical injury or illness, among others. In Bikram’s family, mental illness seems like an epidemic. However, it is a matter of further investigation. His brother and sister could have inherited the illness from their father that eventually led to their untimely death. Unfortunately, the society remains aloof, though thousands of families in Nepal, like Bikram’s, are bearing the immeasurable loss in terms of social respect, security, healthy family environment, opportunity and economic prosperity.
According to the Movement for Global Mental Health, over 80 percent mental disorders are preventable and almost all can be treated. But the negative public attitude towards it has greatly hindered access to proper knowledge and treatment. This wrong attitude has also disallowed possibilities of reducing costs related to mental disorders. Public apathy has also led to the increase of the suicidal ratio in Nepal by 200 percent in the last decade. It is a pity that the so-called knowledgeable, modern and civilized society discriminates against mentally-ill people and considers them less worthy of respect. This results in discrimination and social exclusion, turning a blind eye to the conditions of families like Bikram’s.
Bikram is now sharing his firsthand experience and able to dedicate his life to promote the rights of mentally-ill people and their families. It is obvious that he cannot deal with his problem alone. In the absence of basic support, he may not even be able to continue his study. Thus, the state must reach out to families like his and offer help.
It is difficult to live with mental illness. Patients and their families need to develop a greater understanding to deal with it effectively. First, they need to accept that they are inflicted by the illness. Second, as a citizen, they must demand for their basic human rights and its proper implementation to make life comfortable. Third, families should not be overwhelmed by being mentally ill. For being ill is not the end of life; though it brings complications it can be managed and cured. Fourth, people living with mental illness should dare to publicly share their diverse life experiences. On the one hand, this will increase public knowledge in dealing with mental illness and, on the other hand, offer the society a chance to reframe its social values in creating a safe and productive environment for the mentally ill.
Until people suffering from mental disorders do not come forward publicly and the society does not accept the reality of their afflictions, the desired change to promote mental health and secure the basic human rights of the patients will never be fulfilled.
(Writer is a mental health and disability rights activist and a member of Movement for Global Mental Health.)
jagannathlc@gmail.com
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