Not everyone gets a perfect balance between mind, body and heart. If truth be told, nobody really has a balance which we yearn for. But I am going to talk about mind today. The course of our lives is subject to our mind's abilities. No personal context, no physical health issue, no emotional distress has an impact on human life, as much as a disfunctional mind has. How?
Three people I know in my own life up close, living apochryphal misery are the burning example in my own life. Let me share a bit about their lives with their names changed.
I knew Asha very well. Infact she made great impact on my life in more ways than one. She had a case which is clinically called psychosis. Asha could not trust. She lived in constant fear. She did not have a close friend or relative. Even her children were afraid of her when young and weary of her in adulthood. Asha died of countless disease, but she had ceased to live even as she breathed. What was most intriguing was that Asha conjured stories which she believed were true. She faught legal battles in the later years of her life, for things which belonged to her only in her imagination. What finally deterred her from fighting her battles were the dibilitating diseases which took her life. Asha was curable. She could have lived a happier fuller life, if only she had chosen to be treated for her condition. She discontinued her treatment for fear of being ostracised.
Ashish was equally clse to me and made a great impact over me in my early years. Ashish was a doctor. He was also a very well read man. He was great academically, but his quirks as a kid were simply ignored. Some even encouraged. For example, his rude behaviour and criticising attitude towards others went unchecked. He was made to believe that he had a super brain and was the best, 'not one of the best' academically and even behaviourally. As he grew he showed signs of anti social behaviour when in medical school. He started chewing tobacco, talking in most lowly language and creating an environment of fear around himself. All this was ignored. Even when he began talking paranoically, it was all ignored. He lived in poor condition and died of heart attack at a young age. His body was later found in a decomposed state after few days of his death. Ashish could have been cured, he never took medical help inspite of being a doctor. Ashish was indeed inteligent and could have made a difference. But he is no more.
Suhas was someone I saw briefy once in a while. Stories I have heard about him is no different from Ashish's. A bright student, great hopes for future, over priding parents. When I saw Suhas he was just an unemployable individual living with his parents, because he could not support himself. His retired dad had made arrangements for Suhas's well being after he was no more. But this was not to be. Suhas died young of mental ailments while his dad still lives. Suhas could have been treated and could have lived a normal life.
All these three individuals leave a void in the hearts of those who were close to them, but more than anything they have left no pleasent memories to remember them with. Their loss is just pain after lot more pain that their families saw when they lived.
Truth is no one needs to live like this. There is cure. And it is mostly in the form generic drugs of minimal value, but enormous positive impact on the lives of those who suffer and those around them who suffer unfathomably.
I discovered my own learning disorder very late, I would not have left it untreated if I had known it earlier. I was called a fool or idiot or any number of names when I was a kid. I just couldn't learn or remember or perform in my studies. Even though when I applied my intelligence people were surprised by me. But that was not enough for me to be successful. I did not know what it is to be in chage of my own life till I met this Psychiatrist Dr. MJ Thomas by mere chance. He pointed out that even though I was trying to make sense as I talked to him, I was not making enough sense. Something was wrong. He asked me to take the decision to be treated and to come back. And I did.
Life never remained the same after I began the treatment. Being a Chartered Accountant and a blogger, I was not really in any misery, but I felt miserable all the time. And within a few months of starting the treatment it all began to change. I could remember, I could feel like and dislike, I could express my emotions... I was so complete I couldn't imagine how I had lived my life all these years.
1/7th of Indian population live with some mental illness which is never diagnosed. A population the size of Japan is living in a vegetative state with no hope of ever experiencing life in its real form. The social taboo against the discovery of mental illness is so strong, no one wants to get themselves even checked. Even when life becomes unlivable.
Who is to blame? Who will take the right actions? Are we going to ever outgrow our false ego and choose ability over hidden disability?
Three people I know in my own life up close, living apochryphal misery are the burning example in my own life. Let me share a bit about their lives with their names changed.
I knew Asha very well. Infact she made great impact on my life in more ways than one. She had a case which is clinically called psychosis. Asha could not trust. She lived in constant fear. She did not have a close friend or relative. Even her children were afraid of her when young and weary of her in adulthood. Asha died of countless disease, but she had ceased to live even as she breathed. What was most intriguing was that Asha conjured stories which she believed were true. She faught legal battles in the later years of her life, for things which belonged to her only in her imagination. What finally deterred her from fighting her battles were the dibilitating diseases which took her life. Asha was curable. She could have lived a happier fuller life, if only she had chosen to be treated for her condition. She discontinued her treatment for fear of being ostracised.
Ashish was equally clse to me and made a great impact over me in my early years. Ashish was a doctor. He was also a very well read man. He was great academically, but his quirks as a kid were simply ignored. Some even encouraged. For example, his rude behaviour and criticising attitude towards others went unchecked. He was made to believe that he had a super brain and was the best, 'not one of the best' academically and even behaviourally. As he grew he showed signs of anti social behaviour when in medical school. He started chewing tobacco, talking in most lowly language and creating an environment of fear around himself. All this was ignored. Even when he began talking paranoically, it was all ignored. He lived in poor condition and died of heart attack at a young age. His body was later found in a decomposed state after few days of his death. Ashish could have been cured, he never took medical help inspite of being a doctor. Ashish was indeed inteligent and could have made a difference. But he is no more.
Suhas was someone I saw briefy once in a while. Stories I have heard about him is no different from Ashish's. A bright student, great hopes for future, over priding parents. When I saw Suhas he was just an unemployable individual living with his parents, because he could not support himself. His retired dad had made arrangements for Suhas's well being after he was no more. But this was not to be. Suhas died young of mental ailments while his dad still lives. Suhas could have been treated and could have lived a normal life.
All these three individuals leave a void in the hearts of those who were close to them, but more than anything they have left no pleasent memories to remember them with. Their loss is just pain after lot more pain that their families saw when they lived.
Truth is no one needs to live like this. There is cure. And it is mostly in the form generic drugs of minimal value, but enormous positive impact on the lives of those who suffer and those around them who suffer unfathomably.
I discovered my own learning disorder very late, I would not have left it untreated if I had known it earlier. I was called a fool or idiot or any number of names when I was a kid. I just couldn't learn or remember or perform in my studies. Even though when I applied my intelligence people were surprised by me. But that was not enough for me to be successful. I did not know what it is to be in chage of my own life till I met this Psychiatrist Dr. MJ Thomas by mere chance. He pointed out that even though I was trying to make sense as I talked to him, I was not making enough sense. Something was wrong. He asked me to take the decision to be treated and to come back. And I did.
Life never remained the same after I began the treatment. Being a Chartered Accountant and a blogger, I was not really in any misery, but I felt miserable all the time. And within a few months of starting the treatment it all began to change. I could remember, I could feel like and dislike, I could express my emotions... I was so complete I couldn't imagine how I had lived my life all these years.
1/7th of Indian population live with some mental illness which is never diagnosed. A population the size of Japan is living in a vegetative state with no hope of ever experiencing life in its real form. The social taboo against the discovery of mental illness is so strong, no one wants to get themselves even checked. Even when life becomes unlivable.
Who is to blame? Who will take the right actions? Are we going to ever outgrow our false ego and choose ability over hidden disability?
