MAHATI GARIMELLA The movie “Hichki” is about a woman named Naina Mathur who suffers from Tourette Syndrome (TS). The syndrome causes her to repetitively make nonsensical sounds like ‘chaa’, & ‘waa’. Experiencing TS since early childhood, she has always struggled to cope with the society’s stigma and insensitivity towards her condition. As she enters her adulthood, the stigma towards her ailment also hinders her attempts to be earn the job she endears. Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder which causes, repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. Symptoms of TS typically begin to occur during childhood, with the average onset between 3 and 9 years of age. Vocal tics can be either simple (making sounds like grunting, barking, and throat clearing) or complex (repeating their own words or another person's words). Most people with the condition experience severe TS symptoms during early teens, with gradual improvement as they enter into adulthood....

MAHATI GARIMELLA It’s a common saying that elephants never forget. However, a closer look into these giant creatures, would reveal that their memory is not the only impressive aspect of their intelligence. Apart from being able to pass the mirror self-recognition test, they can perform complex cognitive tasks like numeracy, tool use, and problem solving; further, just like humans, they too have the capacity to experience intense grief, empathy, and other emotions. Recent research is now suggesting that, elephants share with humans psychobiological structures and processes, which make them vulnerable to developing ailments like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  In 2015, psychologist G. A. Bradshaw and her colleagues published an article titled “Elephant Breakdown”, highlighting the psychologically vulnerable state of elephants due to human interference. PTSD is serious mental condition caused after being exposed to a psychologically distressing, event, outside the range...

Sk Zafar Ali In Europe and the United States, psychiatric conditions like adjustment disorder, PTSD, depression, and panic disorders are often reported in high numbers among survivors of conflict situations like terrorist attacks. In this article, we’ll discuss them and also look at how conflict situations/zones are linked to similar conditions in India. The 9/11 attacks on the twin towers is probably the most high profile terror strike in modern history. Over ten thousand people were present at the scene and thousands more were exposed through the media and/or stories of the survivors – and every single one of them was at risk to develop PTSD. Since 2001, several studies have looked at the prevalence rates of PTSD as a result of 9/11. A study conducted two months after the attacks reported that 11.2% of NYC residents had PTSD, and the number was 4% for the whole of United States. Unsurprisingly, people closer to the scene were at a significantly higher risk of developing PT...

Vandita Bajaj The trauma of the Partition of India in 1947 is part of the lived experience of our grandparents’ generation, which makes it so much more personal than any other historical event which we read about in textbooks. In the midst of political and ideological clashes, the ones affected most by the events, immediately before and after, the Partition were the ordinary people. People who had to abandon their homes, flee to save their lives, leave everything behind and start afresh. While there is a vast body of literature—both fiction and non-fiction, although the lines often blur— a story that stands out is Sadat Hassan Manto’s Toba Tek Singh. The story is an interesting starting point to explore the way the mentally ill are reduced to “objects” to be divided equally between the newly formed nations, the all-pervasive “madness” of the events and the horrific traumas that shape collective memory. According to S. Haque Nizame and Nishant Goyal’s (2010) findings, the firs...

Nethra Palepu A Death in the Gunj, Konkana Sensharma’s directorial debut, is a gruelling film about mental health, toxic masculinity, and the pressure to conform, set within the backdrop of a family holiday at McCluksiegunj. Shutu, the protagonist of the film, is a reserved, timid 23-year-old who is depressed. He is going through an especially hard time: his father recently passed away, he failed his college final exams, and he is almost always bullied by his family. While all the men in the film are stereotypically masculine -- they are insensitive, boisterous, competitive, sexist, and pride themselves in their ability to ride motorbikes and drink, Shutu is the exact opposite. He spends most of his time alone or with his niece Tani. He reads, writes, draws, and has somewhat odd quirks -- for example, he has a list of favourite words that begin with the letter “e”. Although Shutu is depressed, this is not a movie about depression. The first half of the film feels like the interse...

Prakriti Sharma For several years now, the entertainment industry has heavily relied upon the cliché plot story of a protagonist with a brilliant mind but irritating/arrogant personality. This article looks at the effects of this representation on society and, subsequently, on the general understanding of different clinical disorders. Protagonists such as Tony Stark, Adrian Monk, Walter O’Brien, Sheldon Cooper, Sherlock Holmes (in the TV series ‘Sherlock´), and Dr. House all represent a character with brilliant, above-average minds.     Image Sources: (Marvel Wiki, IMDb, BBC UK, respectively) Their brains work on a level much different than that of an average human being, which allows them to view the world in a different way and, subsequently, excel in their respective fields. This gives rise to the main plot points of each of their respective stories, i.e. the way they use their genius to develop technology/solve crime/help others. The entertainment indust...

Asiket Singh Dhillon Games such as Starcraft and World of Warcraft among others, involve a series of complex tasks and goals which the player must accomplish to progress. Trivial as these games may seem, they have amassed a large following across the globe especially among adolescents and young adults. The phenomena of ubiquitous gaming led to the rise of E-Sports (electronic sports) wherein professional gamers battle it out against each other to be proclaimed champions. A noble pursuit, no doubt, however the hours of practice that lead up to these events have led to discomfort among many. Does playing internet games for a better half of one’s day make them into screen craving addicts? Being exposed to hours of screen time with randomized reward systems has led to what some have begun to call Internet Gaming Disorder in some individuals. The phenomenon was first noticed in south-east Asian countries, particularly in South Korea where the proliferation of the internet has ensur...

Parvinder Udayan Attachment disorders issues fall on a spectrum, from mild problems that are easily addressed to the most serious form, known as reactive attachment disorder (RAD). Reactive attachment disorder is a condition in which a child is unable to establish healthy attachment with their parent or primary caretaker. This can lead to difficulty in children, in connecting with others and managing their emotions thus resulting in a lack of trust and self-worth, a fear of getting close to anyone, anger, and a need to be in control. A child with an attachment disorder feels unsafe and alone. Children with RAD have been so disrupted in early life that their future relationships are also impaired. They may experience difficulty relating to others and are often developmentally delayed. Reactive attachment disorder is common in children who have been abused, bounced around in foster care, lived in orphanages, or taken away from their primary caregiver after establishing a bond....

Vallari Saxena The World Health Organisation has found that around 250 million people in the world suffer from an anxiety disorder of some kind. It can affect anyone, no matter their gender, age or profession - however, women are twice as likely to experience anxiety as men. The disorder can often dictate one’s life, its level of intensity varying from allowing an individual to be functional on a daily basis to feeling absolutely paralysed. Generation Anxiety (2017) is a BBC Woman’s Hour documentary, where British singer-songwriter Laura Mvula opens up about her struggles with anxiety and is on a quest to find out why we, as a generation, struggle so intensely with the disorder.   Coming from a tight knit family and community, Mvula ’s anxiety snuck up on her following the event of her parents deciding to split up. Marriage had always been a rigid convention of her upbringing, and the divorce made her question everything she’d ever known, “It felt like 25 years of bei...

Isha Deshmukh YouTube has created a platform for anything to be turned into entertainment -- whether it be school subjects, interesting instances in history, conspiracy theories, satirical plays or just comedy skits. The viewers range from toddlers to 70-80 year olds. Videos can rack up billions of views. However, extensive viewership brings great responsibility while producing content. But several controversies make it pretty evident that YouTubers produce content just for views and without regard for consequences. One such incident involved controversial YouTuber Jake Paul and   YouTube veteran Shane Dawson. Jake Paul is a 20 year old YouTuber that lives in an investor-funded house with 10 other YouTubers and is the “leader” of a group called Team Ten. Together they produce content involving playing pranks as dangerous as lighting a furniture-filled swimming pool on fire. Taping two people to their bed for 12 hours, calling hispanic people slurs, jumping onto a tr...

Sk Zafar Ali Like most mental disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is very different for the person living with it as compared to how it is perceived in popular culture. Memes on OCD are frequently shared on social media and it’s not uncommon to see people proudly proclaiming “I am OCD about this stuff.” This article aims to clear the air around OCD and discusses a revolutionary treatment program. The National Institute of Mental Health defines OCD as a “common, chronic and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts ( obsessions ) and behaviors ( compulsions ) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over.” [1] Though most people occasionally double check things, people with OCD are generally unable to control their thoughts and obsessions, and spend a significant part of their day obsessing or compulsively doing the same thing. Moreover, tic disorders, either motor, or vocal, are frequently co-reported with OCD. If left...

Dikshita           Mental Health services in India today are abysmal. Statistics show that over 60 million people suffer from some kind of mental illness every year. Out of them, hardly 20-30% receives the care required to treat the underlying illness. Why is there such a huge gap in health care within the mental health community today? One of the most prevalent reasons is the doctor-patient ratio in psychiatry. For a country with 1.2 billion people, a total of 150,000 doctors are essential to delivering interventions at the right time. However, the actual number is more than startling. The total number of psychiatrists in a developing country like India roughly touches the margin of 3,500. This huge gap within the required professionals and people who need their services has left millions of patients untreated. A total of 800,000 people die every year in India due to suicide alone. The numbers are even scarier in rural India with mo...

Nethra Palepu  In “Em and the Big Hoom”, author Jerry Pinto spins a narrative surrounding what it is like to live with a schizophrenic mother, from the perspective of his adolescent self. This book is remarkably candid, witty, and unapologetic in its depiction of schizophrenia and all that comes with it. As Sarin notes in his analysis of the book, Em and the Big Hoom is not just a story about mental illness -- it is a story about what it is to be a family, about being mentally ill while bearing the responsibility of being a mother and a wife, and about the grief and helplessness that comes with it all. Imelda (Em)’s adolescent son, the unnamed narrator of this story, tries to deal with his own adolescent experiences while simultaneously acting as a support-system, guide, friend, son, and even parent to his schizophrenic mother. The book puts forward an unvarnished account of what a life like this looks like, both from the perspective of Em as well as her son. The b...