CB probes relapse in ASI’s mental woes

Bhubaneswar: A team of four psychiatrists on Monday conducted a series of psycho diagnostic tests on Gopal Das, 54, accused of killing health minister Naba Kisore Das, to understand whether possible relapse of his chronic mental illness had a correlation with his alleged crime. “The special medical board is on the job. A team of neuro-psychiatrists from National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) are also likely to join the probe soon,” the officer said.After finding no clue of business or political rivalry so far, the Crime Branch is working fully on the theory of Gopal shooting Naba due to his hatred for the leader because of the latter’s influence in all the spheres he was familiar with, sources said. Gopal’s family members said he had discontinued medicines, which they sent from Berhampur to his workplace in Jharsuguda district, for some weeks in October-November last year though he religiously followed the regimen since 2014. Gopal has told police that he thought discontinuing medicine would cause no harm to him. He has told investigators that he had resumed it after being coerced by his family members.The NIMHANS doctors are likely to conduct more advanced tests. They are likely to use a standardised international tool called Rorschach inkblot test (a complex test involving set of questions, diagrams that the patient is asked to draw, recognise or respond to). It is otherwise called the psychological testing scale.The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) team led by director Asha Srivastav has conducted layered voice analysis (LVA), an advance test that is done to gauge the emotional behaviour, mood fluctuations from the speech, which help investigators to ascertain whether the person being tested is hiding or saying the truth.Psychiatrists said discontinuation of drug can culminate in severe delusion. “Skipping a drug can strengthen the delusion and can make a patient more committed in his ‘delusional mission’. Such relapse can prove to be catastrophic. Without consulting a doctor, no patient should live without drugs even for a day let alone weeks or months,” said senior psychiatrist Lagnajit Dash.Sudden behavioural changes due to relapse in a person with bipolar disorder, which include a class of mental illnesses, only very close people can recognise the changes of relapse. Outsiders may not be able to notice the changes. “Had his wife been living with him, she could have easily recognised the symptoms. If strong delusions during the relapse phase set in, such people lose sleep and appetite. They always think of their mission,” explained Dash.