For 40-year-old engineering graduate Ratnadeep Shasle, who was admitted to the Thane Mental Hospital after being diagnosed with Schizophrenia, getting back to the usual routine and finding a job was the aim.
However, his family was not keen to accept him despite repeated attempts. He was admitted to the Mental Hospital in November 2020 in a disoriented state after he was found roaming on the streets by some social workers.
Although he has been discharged and found a job, living a normal life, his family did not show any interest in accepting him.
Like him, there are 239 other patients in the hospital who have been residing there for at least two years, abandoned by their families. Some of them are there for as long as 20 years. There are 925 patients at the Thane Mental Hospital.
Out of these 240 patients abandoned by their families, those of 176 patients have been traced but not responded to the hospital’s plea to take the patient’s home due to poor financial support or other reasons. Of these, 89 are stable and have no mental illness but still continue to reside in the hospital. The families of 64 other patients could not be traced at all.
“Societal pressure is one of the major factors that prompt families to abandon the patients. There are various problems that we face when we reach out to the patients’ families. Either the parents have passed away or siblings are often reluctant to come. Sometimes, relatives give false addresses during registration, making it difficult to trace,” said NB Mulik, Medical Superintendent, Thane Mental Hospital.
As an incentive, the hospital authorities have started giving physical disability certificates to patients during discharge so that they get government financial aid even after they leave the hospital. In the last six months, 60 such certificates have been issued.
“This sometimes is a factor due to which the families accept the patients as they do not have to spend extra on medications,” added Mulik.
From among the 240 patients who have stayed for long, 65 have been here for more than 20 years, 39 have been for 10-20 years and 42 patients for 5-10 years and the rest for 2-5 years.
Shasle, who was admitted as a destitute in 2020, overcame his psychological disabilities and started opening up with the medical staff regarding his personal details.
“We came to know that he is a well-educated individual and a resident of Nashik. We helped trace his relatives who were not keen on accepting him such that they even wrote a letter to the local police station declining responsibility of Shasle. However, as per our protocol, his health had improved by February 2022 and was ready for discharge,” said Ramesh Patil, assistant matron.
However, when the medical team took Shasle to Nashik, the relatives bluntly refused to accept him. “This made him upset and we continued with regular counselling to keep him motivated. He started saying that he would prefer to stay on his own but as he had recovered recently, there needs to be someone to be with him at least for the next few months. So, in April, our team made another attempt to reach out to his family and surprisingly all the neighbours came forward and took his responsibility,” said Suresh Billare, psychiatric nurse.
Shasle is now undergoing basic medication at the Nashik Civil Hospital and has recuperated well. “Family disputes, aged parents, siblings who are married and hence do not want their regular life to be impacted, relatives who keep changing their contact details, societal pressure are some of the reasons why families disown their kin admitted to mental hospital,” added Mulik.
Despite only a handful of volunteers, the hospital has managed to reach out to many families over the years. Every year, around 15 patients are reunited with their families by the hospital. There are eight districts that officially fall under the jurisdiction of Thane Mental Hospital. However, being situated in a cosmopolitan city, the hospital often has patients from across the nation.