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The Splintered Mind:
Understanding Schizophrenia
IN Dr Vijay Nagaswami, we have a medical man who talks in the common man’s language, is able to explain complex medical things without resorting to jargon, does not talk down to his readers and takes great pains to explain that even when medical science is substantially ignorant about the diseases it treats and often fails in providing succour, it still offers far superior help and a better chance of getting cured than does a visit to the local ojha, religious man or quack. In short, Dr Vijay Nagaswami has done a great service by bringing out this book. Here he explains, in commonly understood terms, the various things about schizophrenia, while at the same time dispelling many of the myths surrounding it. It’s not, he tells us, a "split personality". That is a different disorder. Schizophrenia is a disease of the mind, which involves a variety of symptoms, not all of which are well understood. The most common manifestation is a definite disjunction between what the body senses and how the mind interprets these sensations. Sometimes the disjunction is so severe that the patient thinks nothing of even severing a part of the body, like the famous painter Van Gogh who chopped off his ears. The most common observable symptom is that the person withdraws from normal society, begins to live in a private make-believe world and often becomes uncommonly careless about personal hygiene. It could happen because of social, psychological and/or genetic causes, though some doctors say that an unknown virus, too, could have caused it. Schizophrenia can be controlled, and even cured, if the patient gets timely medical attention. The medical treatment, possible only by a trained doctor, involves careful use of drugs, as also social and psychological counselling by trained personnel. Unfortunately, Dr Nagaswami tells us, the spread of information about the medical treatment of schizophrenia is so limited, the hospitals treating this disease are so few and the government hospitals are so overworked that families with schizophrenic relatives usually take them to the local quacks for quick relief. The quack usually chains up the patient to control their violent behaviour, often beats them heavily or suffocates them in smoke coming from a supposedly holy fire. Since the schizophrenic does not show acute symptoms continuously, once the first bout of symptoms subside, the family believes that the quack has provided a cure. Unfortunately, the delay in getting medical assistance only worsens the condition. With the help of a number
of case studies, he explains how trying it can be for a family to deal
with a schizophrenic member. He provides important tips on how the
family can handle such a patient and how the surrounding society can
help both the family and the patient in coping with the malady. This
book succeeds admirably in its aim to sensitize the reading public to
the various aspects of this disease which afflicts almost 1 crore
Indians. |
Schizophrenia can be
controlled, and even cured, if the patient gets timely medical
attention. The treatment, possible only by a trained doctor, involves
careful use of drugs, as also social and psychological counselling.
