Life Stories
Pursuance Paves the Way
Bishi developed symptoms of severe illness when she was over 16 years of age, soon after completing 10th class. Family pursued with their efforts in cycles to faith healing, naturopathy, black magic,…, but never gave up. It was only when with lot of psycho-education and support, family took her to psychiatric treatment her symptoms started decreasing. Soon with other interventions, she became a contributing person in the family.
The Change
Kalavva, 40 years, a house-maker, recovered from mental illness, was part of community mental health program in one of the urban partners in Karnataka. She was identified with the help of a community volunteer. When Kallavva was visited first, she was totally bedridden and she could not even interact with people. Her 19 years old daughter Ruma was the sloe caretaker..
Long Road to Recovery
Drinking, smoking and severe illness, treatment, relapse, addiction, treatment, de-addiction, regular follow-up ultimately leading to recovery – that’s the story of Sahu and efforts of his family.
Learning to live again
We used to live together in a village near Chennai (Sri Perambur). My father had set up a Ragi mill (flour mill) there and everything was going on well. During the agricultural season, he used to spray pesticides on the plants and he used to earn around Rs. 500 per day. He worked day and night strenuously. During these tough times, he started complaining about a burning sensation in his stomach. He said that he could not work…..
An interaction with Durgamma
Cheppudama? (Meaning “Shall we tell?”). This was the apprehension expressed by Durgamma and her husband when told that her life of recovery was going to be written down to be shared with others in similar situations. An expression of fear of stigma, rejection and exclusion, not so much for her but for her two daughters, who in the future need to be married. She said that people certainly do not come forward to marry a person having a person with mental illness in the family….
Learning to live again
“We used to live together in a village near Chennai (Sri Perambur). My father had set up a Ragi mill (flour mill) there and everything was going on well. During the agricultural season, he used to spray pesticides on the plants and he used to earn around Rs. 500 per day. He worked day and night strenuously. During these tough times, he started complaining about a burning sensation in his stomach. He said that he could not work. He stopped eating properly. He used to sleep all the time. Then, I don’t know what happened to him.