Mental health - a ticking bomb for the emerging world

Speaking of mental health, the number of news pieces on flash, gory violence, murders, suicides is definitely on the rise. On one side, terrorism is wiping out people by the hundreds. Civilians caught in the crossfire of anti-terror missions is again killing people. And adding to that list now - the criminally insane.

Yet another spate of killings at a Chinese school. No sane person would want to go on a killing rampage in school filled with helpless children. But what perturbed the perpetrator so much so as to want to kill so many children, I can't understand. Then again, what are the authorities doing against such crimes? Yesterday came news of the finding of a beheaded corpse of a boy in Pune, India. Again, the cause of such a devilish act is unknown, but no sane person would have the mind to do something so sick. Day after day news of devilish murders, suicides, cases of people killing all family members before killing themselves, incestuous acts, all really bring to the fore a gory reality.

Countries like India and China with a humongous population that is growing fast in numbers and also economically will soon be faced with growing numbers of diseases of the mind. Now, mental diseases do not begin and end with insanity as is childishly depicted in several of our Hindi movies. They do not just involve people dressed in ragged clothes, with unkempt hair and acting weird. The issues go deeper. Schizophrenia which involves hallucinations, and a disconnect between oneself and the real world is one such example. The patients may look normal, unless hit by a bout which if left untreated will result in the patient internalizing the split personality. Depression is another major disorder, which is always hushed away. In extreme cases, when left untreated, the patient develops bipolar disorder or a state which leaves him/her with extreme emotions - deep sorrow at the smallest of issues, and delirious happiness the very next instant. Rage is yet another issue, which results in spur of the moment crimes. I can see for myself in a megapolis like Mumbai, people so angry with crowds, traffic snarls, losing their temper, and allowing their anger go on a crescendo in a war of words. How all this will shape up going further, I do not know.

Some of these disorders are actually illnesses. Just like a headache or a broken leg which can be physically seen and felt, these are disorders which reside in the mind, and play frightful games with the victims. The victims suffer too, but more often than not, their suffering are seldom ever appreciated by the sane man. Why? They just don't understand the disease. A lack of awareness is the criminal here. Also, some cultural aspects kick in here as well. Many-a-time, in smaller villages, where access to proper sophisticated medical apparatus is missing, people rely on the local physician. I personally know of a maid of mine, who having had several personal problems got afflicted with depression. We tried to get her to a proper psychiatrist here. But her family was vehement in wanting to take her home to her village, where she had been told that she had been possessed by a ghost! The solution? I can only guess here, based on what I've read and the treatment involves hitting the patient, and giving them painul burns with hot iron rods. Brutal and stupid indeed. But again, when facilities are unavailable, the rural physicians don't have a clue either! It is a sorry state of affairs indeed.

And then again some of these disorders like say rage, are man-made. The usual suspect - stress. The race to the top, for the best house, the best car, the best education for your kids, the best vacation, the race to be on top in the showing off game is turning into a nightmare. People are forever in a hurry to go somewhere, just the where is a mystery to everyone. The frivolity of a life lived on the fast lane is lost on everyone till it is too late.

So, one thing that countries like India and China would be immensely benefitted by, going forward would be augmenting awareness about mental health issues, and also strengthening the mental health apparatus in the nation. Till then, God save those whose minds have wandered off into a dark place.

Two movies and a thought

This week I saw two highly interesting movies and unbeknownst to me, these movies revolved around a topic seldom ever discussed - mental health. One was a Martin Scorsese beauty called Shutter Island and the other was a Steven Soderbergh wonder called the Informant. And each had a characteristic trademark of the respective directors.

Shutter Island is a story about 2 Federal Marshals sent to Shutter Island, which houses a high security facility for the criminally insane. There are 3 buildings there, Ward A for men, Ward B for women and Ward C for the most dangerous lot. The 2 marshals are called in to find an escaped convict sorry patient, for that is what the shady shrink played by Ben Kingsley repeatedly corrects the marshals for. Leo Di Caprio plays one marshal and Mark Ruffalo, the other. Several vivid images are intertwined here and that adds to the edge-of-the-seat cinematic brilliance.

For instance, Leo keeps getting flashes of his past life in a Nazi camp, where he was one of the soldiers who ruthlessly killed several German guards. And then there is the track of his wife who he claims was killed in a fire that gutted her apartment. So one track has Leo wanting to come to Shutter Island, since the pyromaniac apartment supervisor who set the fire in the apartment was there. Leo keeps seeing his dead wife who tells him what to do, adding to his confusion. Almost as in 'The Departed', there is this constant undercurrent of suspicion, since one day, the missing convict resurfaces. And how she escaped an electric fence, and sharp rocks without a shoe is a mystery. Her crime, of having drowned her kids is a mystery as well, since she maintains she didn't do it and her kids are in school. So everything is a mystery.

And then there is a lighthouse, where nefarious acts are said to be taking place. What exactly are those acts? What massive cover up is being staged? Why does Ben Kingsley act strange? Why is the escaped convict's psychiatrist on holiday a day after she mysteriously escapes? And then on one such search, Leo's partner goes missing. Where did he go? Who is the unknown woman in a cave? It really gets interesting and the end is intense, and in typical Scorsese style - it is a surprise twist.

As for The Informant, its based on a true story, with Matt Damon playing the central anti-hero in a completely believable man-next-door demeanor. He plays an insider who turns whistleblower in exposing one of corporate America's frauds in relation to price fixing. he cohorts with the FBI in exposing these crimes and also tapes conversations, endangering his career. All hell though breaks loose, when he begins to be investigated as well, for embezzlement and he comes up with a labyrinth of lies beginning from his alleged adoption! The story has everything from fraud to lies to embezzlement to bipolar disorder all shot in typical Soderbergh style with an unrelated jazz track in the background!

The fact that we have so many movies on mental health, ranging from topics around schizophrenia, insanity and depression, I guess goes on to show the trends of our times. Mental health issues are a reality. And the mind is more mysterious, since hardly anyone has been able to unlock everything about it. Celebrity suicides, bipolar disorder, numerous cases of people killing their kin and committing suicide - the list is endless. The lack of awareness makes one look down upon the mentally unstable, and not give them the help and aid they need. When in reality, diseases of the mind are just like any other ailment, only perhaps more complex. And movies like these, are certainly a step in the right direction, since if not anything else, we know about the existence of such issues!