Carelessness, negligence main obstacle to mental patients’ recovery

Some have lost their normal lives since birth; some have suffered mental trauma. They can be seen at the psychiatric department of the hospital. Even though they have been admitted to the hospital as patients in the hope of recovery, their relatives have to return disappointed. Most of the time, the guardians return home with the sick patient.

The relatives of the patients say despite receiving treatment in the hospital, the mentally ill patients have to live abnormal life for years. Many of them recover, but only for a certain period of time. Later, they become sick again as before.

Psychiatrists say that such patients need continuity of treatment. Besides, a suitable environment is also important. But in reality, it is common that at some point, relatives give up hope. Gradually, the family and society stop thinking about them. As a result, they cannot recover due to carelessness and neglect.

Amjad Hossain (75), hailed from Kahalu upazila in Bogura, has been a mental patient since his teenage years. He received treatment at the Pabna Mental Hospital more than four decades ago. A couple of years after being discharged from the hospital, he lost his mental balance again. Later, he was treated at various hospitals and clinics. However, the result was the same, he lost his mental balance after each recovery.

His wife Jamela Begum said, “Amjad has been treated many times. Within 1/2 years of recovery, he started behaving abnormally again. This time, I don’t have the money to treat him.”

Although she recently started Amjad’s treatment by borrowing some money from her relatives, she does not see any light of hope.

Mustafa (40) lost his mental balance about seven years ago. He has been behaving abnormally for a month. He is a resident of Bareyrabari village in Dhunat upazila of Bogura. His father's name is Matiur Rahman.

Matiur said, “There is no way to cure my son. After remaining well for a few days, he loses his mental balance again. He is now admitted to a private clinic in Bogura city for treatment. Let's see what happens this time.”

A man named Nazmus Shakib was looking for his son Sujaul (27) on Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital premises in Bogura around 9:30pm on January 5. He found his son after a long time.

The Psychiatry Department is adjacent to the second gate of the hospital. Sujaul went out through that gate. That gate was closed around 10pm. As a result, he was walking outside the hospital, unable to enter.

Sujaul has been mentally unstable for about 15 years. He would leave his house in the morning, walk around different areas, and return home at night. Sometimes Sujaul would wear pants over a lungi and sometimes lungi over pants. Although he often spoke well with other patients and relatives, he often loses temper over trivial reasons. Even after undergoing treatment for many times, there is no change in his condition.

Nazmus Shakib said that he has been treating his son for more than a decade. His son is not returning to normal life in any way. He has treated his son at Shaheed Zia Hospital before, but in vain.

Kabir Hossain (24), hailed from Sonatala upazila in Bogura, lost his mental balance a month ago. He is currently admitted to the psychiatric department of Shaheed Zia Hospital.

Kabir's father Taherul Islam said that they have been at the hospital with their son for a couple of weeks. No one knows why his son suddenly became like this.

It has been observed in the Psychiatry Department of Shaheed Zia Hospital that relatives lose patience when it comes to treating mentally ill patients. Most relatives lose hope after treating a patient, who has been ill for a long time, for a couple of weeks. This is a major obstacle in curing such patients. When someone suffers from mental illness, at some point they become a victim of carelessness and neglect by their family members. It seems that they are people from the same world but are different. Their screams and cries become a source of annoyance to the relatives at some point.

Contacted, Md Abu Sayen, associate professor of the psychology department at Bogura Government Azizul Haque College, told the Views Bangladesh, “There are different types of mental patients. Some have to take treatment for their entire lives, some for a specific period of time. But most of the time, that doesn't happen. Many people stop taking treatment in the middle of the procedure. Many people provide treatment to the patient intermittently. Due to this, mental patients are not getting well.”

“Once someone is diagnosed with a mental illness, the family members or society blames him. As a result, such patients are neglected; whereas they actually don't know anything. If they knew why they behave abnormally, they would have recovered,” he said, adding, “To cure such patients, the first thing to do is to change the perspective of the family and society.”