• Terms of Use
  • Article Submission
  • Premium Content
  • Editorial Board
Monday, August 8, 2022
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Cart / ₹0

No products in the cart.

Subscribe
Mahabahu.com
  • Home
  • News & Opinions
  • Literature
  • Lifestyle
  • Entertainment
  • Gallery
  • Mahabahu Books
    • Read Online
    • Free Downloads
  • E-Store
  • Home
  • News & Opinions
  • Literature
  • Lifestyle
  • Entertainment
  • Gallery
  • Mahabahu Books
    • Read Online
    • Free Downloads
  • E-Store
No Result
View All Result
Mahabahu.com
Home Lifestyle Health

A Brief History Behind India’s Rebuttal Of Mental Illness

-Kakali Das

by Kakali Das
June 18, 2021
in Special Report
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
silhuoette of a person

Photo by Zachary DeBottis on Pexels.com

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

–Kakali Das |

Movies have this typical depiction of what a ‘mad’ person looks like, and our society’s understanding of mental illness begins and ends there. But WHY? In the Atharva Veda, mental illness is said to be caused by ‘divine curses’, and in Ayurveda, by ‘evil spirits’. What we now classify as mental illness was viewed around the ancient world as possession by evil spirits, and treatments often involved charms and amulets with magical powers, that would ‘tame’ the possessed person. This notion that a person with mental illness needed taming shaped treatment practises for years, from the Bethlehem Hospital that isolated ‘the insane’ in the 13th century, toSalpêtrière Hospital in the 17th century, where patients were chained and placed in small cells like prisoners. In the 18th century, this attitude did change in the west. European reformers like Dr. Philippe Pinel, William Tuke advocated therapy focused on an uplifting, healing environment, while physicians began to question the mainstream understanding of mental health, arguing for the first time that illness could be psychological. It was this approach to treatment that led to the formation of India’s first ‘asylum’ in 1745 in Bombay, followed by Calcutta in 1784.

RelatedPosts

Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does

Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does

August 7, 2022
ধৰ্মীয় অসহিষ্ণুতা

ধৰ্মীয় অসহিষ্ণুতা

August 5, 2022
Is India ready for Cyber Warfare?

Is India ready for Cyber Warfare?

August 5, 2022

Though some of the asylums followed more humane treatments, most were still structured to isolate patients with mental illnesses from the rest of society, because they were considered ‘dangerous’. Although there has been a gradual shift towards community care and more compassionate treatments, even today, mental health advocates criticise institutions for ill-treating patients, not giving them enough agency, and reinforcing the idea that the person with a mental illness must be taken away from society, to control their disorder. Added to this stigma in modern medicine is the popularity of some traditional healing practises which continue to propagate the notion that mental illnesses are a product of evil spirits. And such beliefs inform popular perceptions of mental illness.

A study by Quartz India in 2018 found that 60% of people believe that those with mental illness “should have their own groups to avoid contaminating healthy people”, and 68% believe that they shouldn’t be given any responsibility. From Bollywood movies that mock mental illness, to sensationalise news reporting that foregrounds violence, the media further reinforces these negative perceptions. People with mental illnesses are portrayed as violent, murderers and unpredictable, and are often blamed for their own conditions. All this shaming in the media, in our healthcare systems, and in our interpersonal relations not only harms those suffering from severe forms of mental illnesses, but also makes us deny its common forms like depression or anxiety. But the fact of the matter is 1 in 10 Indians has a mental health condition, and 1 in 20 is depressed. So, instead of denying that mental illness can affect our loved one, who has ‘no good reason’ to be depressed, or instead of claiming that ‘it’s just a phase’, or ‘attention-seeking behaviour’, maybe it’s time we start taking mental illness seriously! Let’s take a cue from mental health advocates and activists, and start talking about mental illnesses, in our schools, colleges, our homes and workplaces. Let’s finally recognise the agency and experiences of people living with mental illnesses, and let’s work towards ensuring that people seek help, and can access it.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: Mental Illness
Kakali Das

Kakali Das

Related Posts

Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does
Special Report

Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does

by Admin
August 7, 2022
0

Traditional Masculinity Kakali Das The Marlboro Man or the Clint Eastwood Cowboy of The Wild Wild West (1965), the macho...

Read more
ধৰ্মীয় অসহিষ্ণুতা

ধৰ্মীয় অসহিষ্ণুতা

August 5, 2022
Is India ready for Cyber Warfare?

Is India ready for Cyber Warfare?

August 5, 2022
The NRC Draft and Celebratory Sweets

UTA demands a correct NRC for Assam

August 4, 2022
Humanity’s just one misunderstanding away from ‘nuclear annihilation’

Humanity’s just one misunderstanding away from ‘nuclear annihilation’

August 2, 2022
Indigenous people and their web of apathies

Indigenous people and their web of apathies

August 1, 2022
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Emergence Of The KNF In Chittagong Hill Tracts

Emergence Of The KNF In Chittagong Hill Tracts

June 4, 2022
নাগালেণ্ডত পুনৰ ভাৰতীয় সৈন্যৰ নৃশংস হত্যালীলা !!

নাগালেণ্ডত পুনৰ ভাৰতীয় সৈন্যৰ নৃশংস হত্যালীলা !!

December 5, 2021
Kharkiv School Graduate In Her Graduation Dress!

Kharkiv School Graduate In Her Graduation Dress!

June 9, 2022
নাগালেণ্ডত পুনৰ ভাৰতীয় সৈন্যৰ নৃশংস হত্যালীলা !!

Indian Army’s Civilian Killings in Nagaland Again!

December 5, 2021

The Chainsmokers Actually Make a Great Nickelback Cover Band

0

Obama Wants To Visit Ubud On Low-key Bali Vacation: Bali Official

0
man in black shirt standing on top of mountain drinking coffee

মোৰ হিমালয় ভ্ৰমণৰ অভিজ্ঞতা

0
crop businessman giving contract to woman to sign

Loan Waivers : LOOKING BACK@ 2015

0
building during golden hour

টাইৱান এক স্পন্দনশীল গণতন্ত্ৰ, যি বাস কৰে সংঘাতৰ ডাৱৰৰ তলত

August 7, 2022
Sunday Getaway To A Local Natural Retreat

Sunday Getaway To A Local Natural Retreat

August 7, 2022
Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does

Traditional Masculinity: The damage It Does

August 7, 2022
PEC demands justice to Myanmar photographer Aye Kyaw

PEC demands justice to Myanmar photographer Aye Kyaw

August 7, 2022

Popular Stories

  • OPEN LETTER FROM MYANMAR PEOPLE TO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES OF INDIA

    OPEN LETTER FROM MYANMAR PEOPLE TO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES OF INDIA

    105 shares
    Share 42 Tweet 26
  • ৬ আগষ্টঃ কেইটামান খবৰ

    10 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • Ukraine: Evil cannot win

    87 shares
    Share 35 Tweet 22
  • Emergence Of The KNF In Chittagong Hill Tracts

    361 shares
    Share 144 Tweet 90
  • PEC demands justice to Myanmar photographer Aye Kyaw

    5 shares
    Share 2 Tweet 1
  • UTA demands a correct NRC for Assam

    13 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • ১ আগষ্টঃ কেইটামান খবৰ

    18 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 5
  • ম্যানমাৰৰ জনসাধাৰণৰ পৰা ভাৰতৰ নাগৰিক সমাজ সংগঠন আৰু ৰাজনৈতিক দললৈ মুকলি পত্ৰ

    19 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • Kharkiv School Graduate In Her Graduation Dress!

    132 shares
    Share 53 Tweet 33
  • ৫ আগষ্টঃ কেইটামান খবৰ

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
Mahabahu.com

Mahabahu is a collection of premium articles, opinions and writes from the writers all around the world.

Category

Site Links

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact

We are Social

Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact

© 2021 Mahabhahu.com - All Rights Reserved. Published by Powershift | Maintained by Webx

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News & Opinions
    • Politics
    • World
    • Business
    • National
    • Science
    • Tech
  • Entertainment
    • Theater
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Dance
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Food
  • Gallery
  • Mahabahu Books
    • Read Online
    • Free Downloads
  • E-Store

© 2021 Mahabhahu.com - All Rights Reserved. Published by Powershift | Maintained by Webx

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Oops!! The Content is Copy Protected.

Please ask permission from the Author.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
%d bloggers like this: