Anurima, 53, (name and age changed) made headlines when she was found to have been living with the corpse of her mother for several months, in her upscale home in Saket, south Delhi. That was in 2010. At IBHAS, she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which had led her into the delusion that her mother was alive. It took several weeks of counselling to convince her that he mother had died. She’s on medication but not in need of hospitalisation. She’s here because she has nowhere else to go. “I like it here. I washed my hair, had idli and upma for breakfast and spent my morning in the gym. I’m also learning how to use the computer again,” she says. Next on her agenda: a session with the kitchen staff, with culinary tips on how to spice up their menu. The outpatient department at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in treats more than 900 people every day. Some, however, end up staying here for months, even years — either because they have no home to go back to, or are not wanted back by their families.

4to40.com April 8, 2017 16 Views