Page 50 - index
P. 50
They tried so hard to quieten him because they were afraid that the
neighbours would hear us and evict us from our house. They were afraid that if
our relatives found out, they would shun us. I kept telling them that we need
help, that we need to speak out about this. They thought that if anyone found
out that he needed psychiatric help, he would be known as ‗that mad boy who
needs a brain doctor‘.
Guess what? My parents were right. My relatives have shunned my brother.
Cousins who played with him as a baby now turn and walk away if he goes
near them. Nobody wants to speak to him. No one wants to have anything to
do with him.
At school, he was teased and bullied. A teacher once slapped him publicly in
front of the assembly even though my brother had done nothing wrong. He
changed three schools in three years.
We also suffered at the hands of ill-qualified doctors. One doctor prescribed
around 19 tablets a day for him. We were so afraid because we didn‘t know
what kind of side effects these medications had. When we showed him to other
doctors, they said 19 tablets was ridiculous. God knows what damage that
medication has done to him.
After two years in rehabilitation, there was no improvement. We finally found
a rehabilitation centre in Bangalore and hoped that finally my brother would
get the help he needs.But what happens once he leaves? Who will hire him?
Can he go to college? There are no support systems in India for people like
him. Will he ever be able to marry? Do you know that we are now known as
‗that family with the mad boy‘? What a cruel generalisation.
The social rejection has taken its toll on my mother. She too now needs
psychiatric treatment. We have exhausted our savings on treatment and are
close to bankruptcy. My family has thought of committing mass suicide more
than once. Why does society always cut the weak from its flock so ruthlessly?
-Atul
47
neighbours would hear us and evict us from our house. They were afraid that if
our relatives found out, they would shun us. I kept telling them that we need
help, that we need to speak out about this. They thought that if anyone found
out that he needed psychiatric help, he would be known as ‗that mad boy who
needs a brain doctor‘.
Guess what? My parents were right. My relatives have shunned my brother.
Cousins who played with him as a baby now turn and walk away if he goes
near them. Nobody wants to speak to him. No one wants to have anything to
do with him.
At school, he was teased and bullied. A teacher once slapped him publicly in
front of the assembly even though my brother had done nothing wrong. He
changed three schools in three years.
We also suffered at the hands of ill-qualified doctors. One doctor prescribed
around 19 tablets a day for him. We were so afraid because we didn‘t know
what kind of side effects these medications had. When we showed him to other
doctors, they said 19 tablets was ridiculous. God knows what damage that
medication has done to him.
After two years in rehabilitation, there was no improvement. We finally found
a rehabilitation centre in Bangalore and hoped that finally my brother would
get the help he needs.But what happens once he leaves? Who will hire him?
Can he go to college? There are no support systems in India for people like
him. Will he ever be able to marry? Do you know that we are now known as
‗that family with the mad boy‘? What a cruel generalisation.
The social rejection has taken its toll on my mother. She too now needs
psychiatric treatment. We have exhausted our savings on treatment and are
close to bankruptcy. My family has thought of committing mass suicide more
than once. Why does society always cut the weak from its flock so ruthlessly?
-Atul
47
