Touch and go

The telephone bell rang.

Sunita had just finished her appointments and had returned home. She felt a little reluctant to take the call. She felt tired not just physically but mentally too. Her job as a clinical psychologist was very satisfying but at the same time, quite taxing. People often say that one should not get involved in the lives of patients at a personal level and probably they were right. But she felt that unless you put yourself in their shoes, you would never understand what they were going through. And unless you did that, you couldn't offer the best possible help to the patient. That was how she worked and she was usually quite fatigued mentally at the end of the day, having absorbed all the moving stories of the patients.

The ring was persistent. She could not ignore it any longer.

"Hello! Sunita here", she said. The number was not familiar or saved in her directory. Probably someone trying to sell property or insurance, she thought a trifle irritated.

"Hello, Sunita Madam! Namaskar!" A soft voice spoke after a short pause.

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. She tried to place it but couldn't.

"Namaskar! Who is this?", She asked.

"I am Sudha, madam! You don't remember me?" There was a tinge of disappointment in the caller's voice.

Sunita immediately recognised her. How could she forget?

"Of course, I remember you, Sudha! It is the first time I have heard your voice on the telephone. So I could not place you immediately. How are you doing?" Sunita asked kindly.

"I am well madam. My daughter is doing a project on mental health. I wondered if you could help her if she needs any help to complete the assignment.

"Sure. Ask her to meet me and I will see what I can do", Sunita replied.

Sudha thanked her profusely and disconnected.

Sunita's mind was thrown back to her training days when she was counseling patients on her own for the first time. Sudha was the first psychotic patient she had therapy sessions with. How could she forget her? It all seemed to have happened so long ago though!

She vividly remembered the day when Sudha entered her clinic along with her husband. She must have been in her late thirties. She was dressed in a simple Salwar suit, her head covered with a muffler closing her ears. Sunita had found it a little strange as it wasn't winter at that time.

Then her husband Prashant gave her history.

Sudha had done her masters in the French language. She worked at two places as a French teacher, in a reputed international school during regular working hours and in Alliance Francaise in the evening.

She had been acting strangely of late. She heard voices in her head when there were none. She thought that people were talking behind her back. That people laughed at her...

Family members started to think she was going mad and started saying it to her face, particularly their teenage son and Prashant's parents. This made matters worse. So he decided to seek some help.

Sunita then spoke to Sudha separately. She found out some more details about Sudha's life.

Sudha was the sole breadwinner of a family of six. Her husband having lost his job was unable to find a new one initially. Later he became lazy and came to enjoy the leisure of his jobless existence. So it was up to her to earn enough money to put food on the table and to get the children a decent education. For this, she took on the evening job in addition to her regular job. This helped the family's finances but started to take a toll on her health. But there was no appreciation for her effort at home. Her only dissatisfaction was that she was not catering enough time for the home. They couldn't afford extra help for household work. And try as she might, she was unable to please anyone in spite of all her best efforts. At work too she lagged, for the simple reason that she felt too tired. She was a perfectionist by nature and felt miserable when she could not live up to her own standards. She felt afraid she might lose her job because of poor performance. She shuddered to think of the consequences. She saw her shortcomings through a magnifying glass. She believed that everybody was noticing it and they were all jeering and talking behind her back. She felt everybody known to her was conspiring against her. Along the way, she lost her logical reasoning and started to imagine things and hear voices in her head. She had a total nervous breakdown.

Sunita felt sorry for the frail, frightened woman sitting in front of her. She prayed to God and hoped that she would be able to help her.

She then spoke to Sudha's husband Prashant separately.

"Sudha is suffering from Schizophrenia", she declared bluntly. She has lost her sense of logical reasoning. The condition has been triggered by extreme stress for which each member of the family has contributed to a greater or lesser extent. So it is the responsibility of each of you to try and make her more comfortable. This will make her more amenable and responsive to treatment. If you assure me of your cooperation, then we can start treatment and I am sure she will improve", she paused for a moment to give her time for Prashant to absorb her words. He nodded pensively. "We will surely try to help madam!" He said, "But she may refuse to take the treatment if she knows."

"Then we must convince her", said Sunita,"Let us talk to her."

Sudha was then summoned inside.

At first, she put up some resistance refusing to believe that anything was wrong with her. After a lot of persuasion when Sudha was still adamant, Sunita was a trifle irritated. She was at the end of her tether. She decided to give one last push."Sudha, you are an intelligent woman. You must know that you are under tremendous stress because of the circumstances. You can be helped with medicines and therapy if you cooperate. If not, you will only become worse and will be beyond any help. So it is for you to decide whether you want to reclaim your well-respected life or you want to end up on the streets with nobody to care for you like that beggar-woman over there, she said pointing towards a woman passing by in torn and tattered clothes, muttering to herself. "Do decide and let us know", she concluded with a note of finality in her voice.

Sudha fluttered her eyes and looked like a cornered animal. She then said "OK madam", in a small voice.

Sunita felt elated. She said a silent prayer to God that Sudha may recover.

So at the end of therapy sessions, Sunita would study Sudha, her body language and note any improvement. After months of treatment and support lent by the family, Sudha showed signs of remission. She was much more energetic and agile and continued her job. She now could not only manage her own things but took interest in her daughter's studies too. Prashant too took up odd jobs here and there and helped her with the household chores.

'Sudha's story had a happy ending to it although she was still very much at risk of a relapse if she did not take care of... She had been able to return to a near-normal life after reaching the brink of the precipice. She had been lucky to have a supportive family once they were appraised of the problem. But there were so many women out there like Sudha who were probably not as lucky. We in our society, have these unrealistic expectations of women so much so that they are too hard on themselves and don't realise the harm they do to themselves in the process. But things are changing now, albeit at a snail's pace', thought Sunita.

She leaned back in her chair feeling a sense of satisfaction at having been of help to Sudha and at her remarkable improvement in a short period of time although she must admit that it was touch and go until it actually happened!