For those looking for help, support is just a call away ……Kumar Sambhav | TNN
Mumbai: I want to end my life, 15-year-old Bhanu would incessantly whine to his mother. On a couple of occasions, he wrote suicide notes addressed to his mother before trying to strangulate himself in the school bathroom. The provocation was depression. He was depressed after leaving his old school.
However, a year later, things are different. Bhanu is the top ranker and has many friends in his class as well. What brought about this changeapart from a steady course of medicationis a support group for suicide-prone persons.
Members of this support group hail from families that have suffered after a dear one committed suicide. It was their constant counselling that brought Bhanu, literally, back on track. Bhanu remembers the pain in the recollections of Anthony Furtado, a 55-year-old member of the group, whose 16-year-old son committed suicide 30 months ago.
Furtados son had not been doing well academically. I left no stone unturned to boost him up but unfortunately I couldnt do that. Now, through this group, we share our experience with others and tell them the consequences we have suffered, says Furtado. It is listening to the pain of those left behind that changed Bhanus feelings.
Furtados group is not the only one. Sneak into the hall of Nityanand Clinic in Andheri on the second or fourth Sunday of every month and you will find around 20 people deep in discussion. For the last 10 years, Maitri, a support group for mentally ill patients, has been conducting separate weekend meetings for men and women suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Similarly, Dilaasa, a support group for family members of schizophrenics and those suffering from substance abuse-related psychosis, organises weekend meetings for its members at Masina Hospital in Byculla. It provides families of mentally ill patients a platform to discuss their concerns and worries.
In fact, there are many professionals who, due to their stressful jobs, have come together to provide support to each other. Take Rekha Shahini, a principal, who, along with her other counterparts, has formed a group called the Coffee Table Group.
From attending after-hours meetings to worrying about school security, from dealing with destructive students to abiding by strict government guidelines, a principal has to go through all. To discuss these issues and share grievances, we send emails and messages to principals of various schools and invite them to participate in a forum. And what else can be a better platform to do so than a coffee table, asks Shahini.
The importance of support groups, says social psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty, lies in the fact that they provide the much-needed oxygen and healing touch to families living with mental health burden.
Support groups also give affected families the opportunity to socialise. The stigma and shame associated with mental diseases decreases in such groups and they provide safe spaces to grow. They are just like an alternative family support in this alienated world, adds Dr Shetty.
Support groups also double up as social groups. Apart from group and individual counselling, we also organise recreational activities. Even issues such as marriage, studies and career are discussed, says Samrin Shaikh, project coordinator of Maitri.
DIAL FOR ADVICE
DIAL FOR ADVICE
* Anti-Suicide Group – 9820032178, 9820620377
* Maitri for mental patients and their families – 26838895 (4pm to 8 pm)
* Dilaasa, for families of mental patients – 9820198220
* Coffee Table Group for school principals- 9820132170
* Mind Temple, Support group for depression – 26289792, 26288928
* Support group for parents of kids suffering from ADHD – 9821074032
* Sion Hospital group therapy section – 24011984 (Names of patients have been changed on request )