A Study of an Uncommonly Common Syndrome      People often use the word delirious in everyday conversation. The word itself has various connotations, but what do we know about this illness called delirium? Delirium is a case of acute brain failure, where the mind lies in the midst of usual state of wakefulness and a stupor or a coma. Delirium is also known by many as the acute confusion state as it results in alteration of cognition and consciousness, leading to reduced ability to focus, sustain or shift attention (Echeverría and Paul, 2019). There are many among us who do not give delirium the importance it deserves and the severity that it must be treated with. Delirium is potentially preventable and treatable, but under-recognition of the syndrome and the lack of understanding of the underlying pathophysiology has hindered the successful development of therapies.        There is no primary cause for delirium and different patien...

Indian cinema has been hugely criticised for their portrayal of characters with mental disorders; whether it is Manjullika with diassociative identity disorder in the movie Bhool Bhulaiya or Kanagana Ranawat   being described as a   ‘psycho’ in the latest movie Judgemental Hai Kya . The movie Karthik calling Karthik , starring Farhan Akhtar revolves around the life of Karthik, a thirty year old male who has schizophrenia. The aim of this blog post is to analyse the movie’s portrayal of schizophrenia as a disorder.   One of the distinctive features of schizophrenia is having an altered sense of reality. This would include having the belief that people or things are going to harm or kill one, which ends up causing disruptions in the person’s normal day to day functioning. (Smith, Robinson & Segal)   Karthik leaves himself a message every night to himself and shortly wakes up to his phone ringing with no re-collection of ever leaving the message. He grows...

Trigger warnings: rape, schizophrenia, epilepsy  When a primary understanding of mental illnesses like schizophrenia comes from mainstream media, it becomes important to pay close attention to the accuracy of the portrayal. Films like Joker (2019), Fight Club (1999), and Shutter Island (2010), are among the highest grossing films that feature characters with symptoms of schizophrenia ("Most Popular Schizophrenia Movies and TV Shows - IMDb", 2019). Unfortunately, most of these popular portrayals depict those diagnosed with schizophrenia as being violent and unstable. While it is true that psychotic episodes can have violent manifestations, these portrayals fail to capture the nuances of schizophrenia (Goldberg, 2018). A highly accurate depiction, however, can be found in an Indian film that never entered the mainstream- 15 Park Avenue . The film revolves around Meethi, a middle-aged woman who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and epilepsy. This blog post will ...

By Devika Jamkhedkar Bojack Horseman is a gritty black comedy series about the extravagant but tumultuous life of a  ‘Hollywoo’ has-been star. The show has been acclaimed for its sturdy characterisation of its titular horse, a well as the harrowing and honest depiction of alcohol abuse. While a show dealing with mental illness is step towards greater awareness, it must be psychologically accurate. I will examine the show’s portrayal of Bojack Horseman’s alcohol abuse to assess where it succeeds or stumbles. Bojack shows signs of heavy and frequent drinking. He drinks alcohol every day and without an occasion. When he is made to abstain, he becomes aggressive and defiant, claiming that he ‘needs’ to drink in order to functional normally. He boasts about his extremely high tolerance which is an accurate portrayal of alcohol dependency- requiring to take higher quantities of the substance to get intoxicated (Hooley et.al, ‘Abnormal Psychology’, p.p 409). As the show progresses,...

Over the past few decades, several developed Western countries have increased their strict immigration policies in order to deter those seeking asylum from entering their borders (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2000). An asylum-seeker is someone who is requesting asylum or refuge and has asked to be given formal legal refugee status (UNHCR, 1951: Article 1A(2). The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalised violence or human rights violations has also increased dramatically in the last 5 years and as a result, the number of people displaced and seeking asylum has created a refugee crisis (Angelica, et al. 2018).   The time spent in detention centres, the uncertainty relating to their asylum application status and separation from family result in feelings of fear, anxiety and trauma in a large number of these individuals. The time spent in the detention centres is an important post-migration stresso...

The workings of the law and psychology are inextricably linked in a complex tangle, where “abnormal” behaviour crosses the line into illegal territory. The insanity defense is a tool by which criminal acts can be excused by pleas of mental illness. It is an indispensable device required to protect those who may be suffering from psychiatric illnesses that are detrimental to their sense of judgement and awareness of their actions. The darker side of the defense, however, arises in the difficulties faced in proving the truth or falsity of such claims – for those with genuine mental illness, to show that they were in an unfit state of mind at the time of the crime, and conversely, its misuse by those who may get away with grave crimes simply by pleading insane. The defense is based on the assumption that “at the time of the crime, the defendant was suffering from severe mental illness and therefore, was incapable of appreciating the nature of the crime and differentiating right from ...