We live in a country where our fear of mental illness is so deep rooted that we tend to become irrational when we think of those mentally affected. Our society has been stained with so many misconceptions and wrong theories about mental illness. I want to ask all of you who consider yourself to be a part of this ‘NEXT” generation, how many time have you giggled at a roadside beggar wearing some filthy clothes, muttering and laughing to himself. I am sure most of you have. Honestly, even I was no exception to this…

But have you ever wondered why did you laugh at that guy? You would say, because he is Mad! So? Would you have reacted similarly at a person with high fever or say having Diabetes or any other damn illness? I am sure you would not!

Today we still hear news that Women are branded as “witches” (chudail) and then burned or stoned to death in many pockets of our country. Elders still see mental illness as some ‘Devil’s possession’! And what is the solution they teach us? Beat such ‘deserving’ victims with broomsticks and lathis and ‘drive away’ the spirit out of their bodies! It was not long ago in our soceity that patients with psychosis were taken to an asylum, usually very far away from the ‘normal’ civilization and chained so that others could live safely. But in between these hard truths there’s also something to smile about. Atleast certain portion of our society has come a long way in giving the mentally ill, a treatment that is far more humane…

I did a short post in Psychiatry few months back in a public hospital. People including even my relatives raised an eyebrow on my decision! They looked suspiciously at me. “Kirti tu bhi paagal ho jaayega kuch dinon me, chod de ye sab!” (Kirti, even you will go crazy in few days, leave this post)

‘Paagal’… Now that is something i sure giggle at! I wonder often, who must have ‘invented’ this word! The nearest english analogue of paagal would be ‘Crazy’ or ‘Mad’, right? So aren’t you crazy about so many things in your life? So should i call even you as ‘paagal’? Baseless theory right? So are many theories about mental illness in our society.

Ask people around and most of them (70%) will say a person becomes mentally ill because ‘uska dimaag kamjor hai’ (his brain is weak). But the fact is that mental illness cant be “cured” only by ‘strengthening’ your mind or your will power. What happens next? The ill person becomes more and more aloof. A blanket of guilt and secrecy covers him thereby blocking every possible intervention which could have pulled him/her out of that loneliness till the situation gets out of hand.

But here i want to ask each one of you have you ever ignored that nasty cough or that 100+ fever? So my question remains, ‘If your physical body is so special to you, your brain in fact is the most integral part of it! Then why ignore mental illness? Why laugh at some one whose brain has fallen ill.’ Everyone who has a heart can get a heart attack, similarly everyone who has a brain can have mental illness! And so if you still think you are immune to mental illness, well… you know what I mean.

Indians always cry over racism they face on the basis of their colour. But aren’t we Indians racist when it comes down to stigmatizing people with mental illness and branding them as ‘abnormal’?

The need of the hour is to wake up and embrace a new ideology towards mental health. Its time to break away those shackles of old ideas and myths and misconceptions and think responsibly and rationally when it comes to meeting a mentally ill person. Such a person is not ‘dangerous’ or ‘funny’… deep inside he/she expects a small gesture of love and understanding from you…

So tap your brain a bit if you really think you are ‘Normal’ and think about this… Rather than pointing your finger at them, let your helping hand be a reason for light in that lonely darkness…

Okay let me come to the point. Impotence or Erectile dysfunction is the inability to maintain an erection while having intercourse. The other ill-effects of smoking are very well known by those who smoke, but recent medical research shows that smoking is one of the leading cause of impotence in men. Well you will ask me how???

In order to maintain an erection, the blood supply to the penis should be adequately maintained. Smoking constricts the blood vessels of the body, thereby reducing blood flow. As a result, many men find themselves unable to maintain an erection. 20% of impotent Smokers are also believed to have abnormally low blood pressure. This reduces the flow of blood to the penis. Low blood pressure is caused by atherosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits, especially in penile area. This is thought to be engendered by arterial injury caused by smoking! Atherosclerosis decreases the calibre of your blood vessels reducing the amount of blood reaching your tool!

When your penis is erect it is because blood gets trapped inside it, once it enters and then there is no easy way out before you ejaculate. Now cigarettes have nicotine in them which dilates or open up these valves even before you let your passion unfold, frustrating both you and your partner leaving your head low, just as your dick!

So how do you avoid this embarrassment? One of the best ways to treat impotence is to prevent it in the first place. Stop Smoking! Yes, i know it is easier said than done, but there has never been a better time to stop than now. There are numerous aids available to help you quit this life-threatening and embarrassing habit, including patches, gums and medications. Think about it! Sticking that butt in your mouth will never make you a man than holding your lovers face in your hands, filled with content and deeply satisfying love… Enjoy your love life…

“A civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.” - Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

India has made it’s mark on this globe… no doubt on that. It is the largest democracy of the world, second populous country (soon to conquer the first position), one of the most fastest growing economy and the third largest military force in the world. India is now not referred as the land of sadhus and snake charmers any more. The world looks at India as one of the emerging superpower in near future, a country whose spacecraft made the most dramatic discovery in space history, a country whose film industry is gearing up to rub shoulders with Hollywood!

Toss the coin… and you will have statistics that will shame you, those numbers which are often scribelled with and manipulated by our caretakers sitting on those responsilble seats in the government to glorify their achievements after their 5 years of ruling us! India’s 74% population still stays in rural areas, still fantasizing the distant city life, the literacy rate still stagnates at 64% sixty years after independence. Okay Yes, India is the twelfth largest economy in the world, but what about the 22% population still living under the poverty line? When the basic amenities are not taken care of, its not at all surprising for me that India’s health sector is something which none of us will ever boast of!

I recently went through some statistics regarding the medical infrastructure in India. India is said to have 289 institutions providing undergraduate medical training (196 MCI recognized, 77 MCI permitted, and 16 in the “danger zone”). Amongst these institutions when one ponders over the mental health sector you get an even more shocking picture! The postgraduate training in psychiatry includes Doctor of Medicine (MD) (83 centers, 159 seats), Diploma in Psychological Medicine (DPM) (46 centers, 107 seats), and Diplomate of National Board (22 centers, 36 seats). Strikingly, 25% of the medical colleges in India do not have a Psychiatry Department. Apparently, there are only around 4000 psychiatrists in India to serve the five crore mentally ill population currently!!!

Having said that I want to stress on this issue that India is gaining ground in various fields but at the same time the stress factor involved is also increasing exponentially but unfortunately is not taken seriously. A meta-analysis of 13 epidemiological studies consisting of 33,572 persons reported a total morbidity of 58.2 per 1000. Another meta-analysis of 15 epidemiological studies reported a total morbidity of 73 per 1000. However what astonishes one is the fact that the bulk of the affected falls in the 15 to 45 year age group, which is the working class in our young society. Talk about the existing facilities in the country and they fall way short of the required norms, which makes the situation still worse.

The gravity of the problem can be felt by the fact that the number of psychiatric beds in the country is only about 0.2 per 1,00,000 population and there are only two psychiatrists per 10 lakh population. The major share of psychiatric facilities lies with the government sector (especially mental hospitals), which is centered on certain areas of particular states. The psychiatric services have not yet been integrated into the primary health care system and this leaves large populations in dire need of such facilities, with no hope of effective treatment. Therefore, they seek help from the private sector and there are no clear policies regarding treatment of the mentally ill in the private sector. A significant population in India cannot afford private hospital care and the insurance system in the country is in its infancy. The rehabilitation of psychiatric patients is also given little importance in the existing mental health framework. Its high time now that the people ruling us should integrate all psychiatric services into primary care and with an effective public-private partnership look forward to provide us a comprehensive mental health care.

…Or else what Sigmund Freud said a century back can very well happen even in the twenty first century and crumble the mental health infrastructure in India!

I am just sitting in my room with my new lappie, just surfing through few of my medical sites as a pop up catches my attention… <click>… and Its Aritra, my twitter buddy… i read his tweet… “@aritrasen : @kirtitandel Blog has been launched with some new posts”

I click on the link that he provided me… His Blog ‘Denken‘ was quite a nice one with him recollecting his first tweetup (meeting of twitter users from a particular geographical area) in Siliguri, West Bengal. I instantly got fascinated by this idea of blogging. I was aware i was too late on that, but as they say its never too late… I decided then and there – I am going to have a blog of mine – impulsive as I was! I was completely amazed as i browsed my other friend’s blogs too and thought that I can too try my hand on this. Since childhood i had this habit of writing in my diaries but it was not that consistent… It never picked up in that sense…

So the next thing i did was opened this WordPress site and registered myself. The whole procedure took pretty much time to understand but I was enjoying it. Writing in a diary was like keeping all your thoughts to yourself but this Blog idea meant like broadcasting your thoughts to the world… a huge world! And then lot many ideas started creeping up in my mind… I always believe that whatever we do should be meaningful. I asked myself the same regarding my decision to blog. Then I thought I will use this tool for many other purposes too. At the moment apart from just letting my mind open I feel I will also use this  blog to dispense out valuable medical and health awareness topics to you all. Because I believe awareness is very contagious… It spreads in no time. Like how American Author Jim Rohn says, “Words do two major things, they provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” And using this principle I want to do my bit to this mankind. And I am sure it will definitely help everyone.

Having said that now I am thinking of writing down a list of topics on which I will be posting. I hope you all will enjoy reading my posts as much as I do while writing them.

Here I would like to sincerely thank my Friend Aritra for that pop up which trigerred my brain to start this new journey. Thank you Dude… So here’s wishing everyone a happy life and happy reading…

God Bless,

Kirti