BENGALURU: A 19-year-old college going student who was doing well in his academic and extracurricular activities started showing ‘weird’ behavioural traits. He would tell his parents he felt like someone was watching him and was out to kill him. He would even scream and shout and ask that someone not to follow him. His parents were of the belief that he was victim to black magic. Accordingly, he was taken for ‘treatment’. However, his ‘strange behaviour’ got worse. After one year, the teenager was taken to a private hospital where his illness was diagnosed. They found out it was Schizophrenia.
“Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with the illness start hallucinating and may seem like they have lost touch with reality,” said Dr Divya Shree KR, Consultant Psychiatrist at Aster CMI Hospital.
Dr Divya who treated the 19-year-old said that many parents mistake schizophrenia to be black magic and delay the treatment.
“Schizophrenia is often seen in adolescents. We get about 10-20 such cases in a month. During that age the brain undergoes pruning, which means it changes,” said Dr Divya.
In another case, a 14-year-old child would be suspicious of her neighbours and teachers, thinking they were going to harm her. She would also hear voices, thinking that people around her were talking about her. She would get aggressive and lock herself in a room and even stop taking interest in daily activities like eating and sleeping.
Dr Megha Mahajan, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road said she faced similar series of treatment, “The parents had mistaken schizophrenia to be black magic and took the child for other treatment. After a few days the parents brought her to us. Through evaluation, medications and adequate psychotherapy, the child recovered from the illness and has been maintaining the improvement.
Dr Vyjayanti Bonanthaya, Manipal Hospital, Old Airport road said, “In such cases, it’s important for parents to show care and be supportive throughout.”