Inmates of Peroorkada MHC find a new home at Gandhi Bhavan

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For 49 inmates of the Government Mental Health Centre at Peroorkada, Friday marked a new beginning in their lives. These are all individuals who had completed their treatment and were declared fully cured by their treating doctors. But they had no home to go back to, because their families never came back for them. On Friday, thanks to the humanitarian initiative taken by Lions District 318 A, the 49 rehabilitated inmates left the MHC for their new home at Gandhi Bhavan in Pathanapuram. Equipped with new clothes and personal belongings, they will get an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Keralam Health Minister K. Muraleedharan flagged off the bus carrying them to Pathanapuram. It is the first time that so many persons from the MHC are being rehabilitated all at once. “The team of psychiatric social workers and representatives of district legal services authority at MHC try their best to rehabilitate these persons in their own homes. But the families often do not respond or express their inability to have them back. In many cases, they would have left a false address, which makes it difficult to trace them,” pointed out T. Sagar, a senior consultant in Psychiatry and who heads the mental health awareness project of Lions District 318 A.

“There were actually 55 persons who were awaiting rehabilitation after being cured of their illness, according to the report by the High Court. All those who received medical fitness certificates have been accommodated at Gandhi Bhavan. They have taken up the huge responsibility of life-long care and support of these individuals. We will also follow them up and ensure that they are on maintenance medication and doing well,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Muraleedharan said that it was sad that the society’s basic outlook towards people who have recovered from their mental illness had not changed even in the era of great scientific and technological progress. He added that more facilities, including ambulances and new buildings, would be provided at all MHCs and that the government would give priority to the welfare of patients with mental illnesses.

These individuals rehabilitated on Friday are all trained in various trades at the MHC’s “Pakal Veedu” (day-care centre) and are fully equipped to be integrated into a vocational rehabilitation programme. Those who were present on the occasion included the district medical officer Bindu Mohan, resident medical officer at the MHC John Simon, MHC Superintendent Preethi James, psychiatric social worker Shobhitha Thoppil, Lions Club District Governor V. Anilkumar, and Gandhi Bhavan managing director Sasikumar, among others.

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