An apparently anxious and worried mother of a teenaged girl walked into a psychiatrist’s clinic in the city and discussed the symptoms her daughter had with the psychiatrist.
The well-educated lady had done some initial research by browsing the net but wanted to confirm her fears. When the doctor said the symptoms indicated schizophrenia, the shocked mother muttered: “I wish she had cancer instead.”
Such is the social taboo associated with schizophrenia, a relatively common but often misunderstood mental disorder which manifests itself in abnormal behaviour and an inability to recognise what is real.
“The mother was worried about the high degree of stigma associated with schizophrenia. I tried to explain to her that adequate and prompt medication can help schizophrenic patients lead a normal life,” says Vishal Indla, chief psychiatrist of Vijayawada Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (VIMHANS).
October 10 is observed as World Mental Health Day and this year’s theme is ‘Living with schizophrenia’.
“Schizophrenia is the most serious psychiatric illness but the good news is that medication can help the patient move on in life,” says Dr. Vishal.
The unfortunate thing is that in most cases, the first hit occurs around late teens, the age when the brain should be most active in discharging its duties. In most cases, family members fail to notice initial symptoms, allowing the illness to aggravate to a stage wherein the patient has delusions. Auditory, visual, olfactory and tactile hallucinations make things worse. A patient hears, sees, smells and feels the touch of things that don’t exist,” he explains.
Dr. Vishal tries to cheer schizophrenic patients by speaking to them about A Beautiful Mind, a Hollywood film, loosely based on the biography of American mathematician John Forbes Nash and focuses on his mathematical genius and also his schizophrenia.
“I know of people who have kept their schizophrenic family members locked in a room for fear of social stigma. They must realise that it is a disease and needs medical attention,” he says.
V. Radhika Reddy, Head of the Psychiatry Department in Siddhartha Medical College, speaks of students who visit the hospital complaining of anxiety showing early signs of schizophrenia. “We mostly get refractory cases and of them, 5-10 per cent do not respond to treatment. We can only try remission of symptoms,” she says.
The main cause leading to schizophrenia is said to be genetic while hyperactivity of dopamine and sometimes, drug abuse can also contribute to it.
