Facility to treat mental illness in pipeline

It was almost a year and a half back when Basanti Devi (45 years, name changed) and her teenage daughter, Deepa (18-20 years, name changed) were brought to the department of psychiatry of Dr S N Medical College, Jodhpur. Dr G D Koolwal, senior professor and head of psychiatry department here who treated them said that the duo were suffering from Folie à deux or shared psychosis or in even simpler terms, a psychiatric disorder involving symptoms of shared delusions or hallucinations.While Basanti had been a case of schizophrenia for almost 15 years, her daughter by virtue of staying and being close to her, got inflicted with the same symptoms wherein they claimed of hearing voices or seeing people at the same time and even became violent concurrently. Though they were given treatment but could not be kept for long term treatment and in separation from each other, which as per Dr Koolwal was required in this case, due to lack of the required infrastructure.
In fact, cases like this are plenty. On the other hand, there are addicts like Beni Ram (27 years, name changed), who has been brought for de-addiction time and again and is not being able to join the mainstream while being trapped in the same vicious circle for the past 3-4 years.
However, the present glum picture might look very different in another couple of years given the fact that a Neuropsychiatric, De-addiction and Rehabilitation Research Centre, Jodhpur is in pipeline. The project reportedly is worth Rs 200 crores approximately and is coming up in Keru village in Mandore, Jodhpur.
Dr Amilal Bhat, principal, controller and senior professor, urology at Dr S N Medical College, when contacted said that the proposal and the budgetary requirement for the said centre have already been sent to the ministry of health and family welfare. “We are awaiting a final nod while an area of reportedly 25 bighas has already been earmarked for the facility,“ he said adding that Jodhpur being the second largest city in Rajasthan with a huge catchment area covering nearly 13rd population of western Rajasthan is ideal for the `first of its kind' proposed centre which would cater to the entire state.
Dr Koolwal said that the building would have the capacity to meet long term future needs with the ground floor catering for up to next 20 years and subsequent floors would serve the requirement for next 80-100 years. The centre in the pipeline shall boast off a lush green and `close to nature' ambience in addition to recreational and sports provisions for indoor patients. “Much emphasis shall be laid upon training centre for mentally retarded children so that they can lead an independent life in the mainstream society while earning their own livelihood, a point which missed attention of the policy makers all these years,“ said Dr Koolwal.