For the mentally ill, this sanctuary in Mysuru provides a family

Helping them heal

More than 100 people suffering from mental illnesses and shunned by society have got a new lease of life at a sanctuary, where a team of psychiatrists and psychologists not only treat them, but also help in successfully reintegrating them into society.

Chittadhama at Shanthipura, a village located about 4 km from HD Kote, is a rehabilitation and residential centre for homeless people with mental illnesses. The residents here are not drugged or locked up but are treated as equals of caregivers.

A long and systematic procedure is followed to rehabilitate them by engaging them in various activities. For a visitor, the cleanliness of the place brimming with activities, from cleaning and cooking to agriculture, Chittadhama feels more like an ashram.

The organisation is the brainchild of Dr T Murali, professor of psychiatry, MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. Murali, along with Dr B R Ravi Shankar Rao, the present chairman, and another psychiatrist Dr Swaminath G brought together a team of people to form the Chittaprakasha Charitable Trust. Chittadhama got a form in 2010 when the Infosys Foundation built a 7,500 square foot building.

"We don’t use the word 'patient' for our residents. Most of them are picked up from the streets and come to us after a court orders medical care. Some can’t even give us their names or place of origin,” Rao said.

Mahadeva Swamy, the administrator of the facility, chose to show the prizes won by the residents in sports competitions, before speaking about their condition.

"The people are brought here in a disoriented state often with nothing but a few fragments of memory. Instead of looking at how unkempt they are, we see the years of rejection and suffering they have endured. Empathy and patience are two things that work faster than any medicine,” he said.

After a week's observation and medical and psychological investigation, most of them become part of the residents. “While the doctors provide medicines, we help them realise their potential. It starts with trusting them to clean themselves and their room and then entrusting other activities,” he said.

Instead of isolation wards, the male and female residents in Chittadhama live in separate dormitories. From prayers in the morning to the work on the farm to grow their own food, focussed efforts are made to ensure all the residents feel part of a community.

People more accepting now

Some of them show exceptional skills in agriculture, dairy farming, and even cricket, Dr Swaminath said. “It's satisfying to see a person climbing out of a crisis and evolve. The larger society’s attitude to Chittadhama has changed. Recently, teams across HD Kote are playing cricket with us and the Chittadhama residents have won,” he said.

Of the 108 people brought to the sanctuary over the last 10 years, 48 have gone back to society. Some even got married and are living a normal life.

The trust is now organising camps to spread awareness on mental health and provides free medicines to over 100 people every month.