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Mental illness in India has been
considerably under invested in, given the lack of awareness, the
stigma and the discrimination. More than 80% of the population has
no access to mental health services. With poor awareness, economic
hardship and lack of care, many Schizophrenic patients get separated
from their loved ones and end up as roadside destitute.
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Shraddha, started by
Drs. Bharat and Smitha Vatwani, practicing psychiatrists in
Mumbai, and ably assisted by
Ashok
Mohanani
, Director, Ekta World,
Dr Roopa Tekchandani, Practicing Psychiatrist,
Denit Mathew
- has focused on a single segment client
definition, roadside destitutes who are mentally ill and need treatment,
rehabilitation, and reunion with their loved ones. There is no known fully
charitable Institution in India run by qualified professional
Psychiatrists that services these marginalized members of our society.
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Typically these patients suffer from Schizophrenia,
characterized by a profound disruption in thinking and perception,
affecting the patient’s loss of sense of self, language and thought,
and the impaired functioning causing loss of acquired
abilities, leading to loss of livelihood and relationships.
Schizophrenia has
three components to its treatment
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Medication that mitigates symptoms and prevents
relapse |
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Education
and psychosocial intervention to help patients and families cope
with the illness and its complications |
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Finally
reunion and rehabilitation that enables the patients to reintegrate
within their villages, their communities and society. In about
80-90% of the patients this much recovery is possible. |
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Innovative Experiments
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While schizophrenia is treatable through medication, its
effectiveness requires a supportive environment, productive engagement and
socialization. |
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Unlike the claustrophobic
custodial care of other psychiatric institutions where patients are
locked up in building-type structures, patients at Shraddha are housed
on a wide land area and permitted to engage in a range of productive
confidence-enhancing activities including farming, vegetable
cultivation, dairy farming, meditation and recreational interactions
etc.
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