Page 1 of 2

Eklavya Support Group

It would probably be easier for people to admit that they have TB. than it is to say that they are suffering from a mental illness. And such illnesses are unlike an infection that go away with the administration of appropriate drugs. Problems with the mind are more insidious and often it is hard to get out of the vortex they put one into.

To help people with psychological problems Anil Vartak with the help of Dr Ulhas Luktuke (consulting psychiatrist) set up a self help group called Eklavya. According to him the name in itself is significant. Says he “Like Eklavya (of Mahabharat) people with mental disorders have to learn on their own how to help themselves. No one can really help you out unless you make the effort”. Therein lies the essence of this self help group.

Vartak now 42, himself was a patient of a mental disorder some 25 years back. He pulled himself out of it and is now a professor of Economics. Here he talks about Eklavya and what it does for people with mental disorders.

Who are the people who benefit from this self help group?
“Initially I had joined Sihaya which was a similar group that aimed at helping people with schizophrenia only. They were a closed group and did not want to reach out to more people. Being a patient myself I felt that it would be better if we could reach out to as many people with mental problems as possible. This is because such people need help and do not have enough avenues open to them. In fact about two years ago, a Marathi newspaper had done a story on what we do. And believe me, I get calls form people even today asking if they can come over”.

The reason is that there is so much stigma attached to mental illness that people are scared to come out and say that yes, they are suffering form a mental problem. People who call me up worry about what the man on the footpaths of Apte Road will think if they know that we help mentally disturbed persons, such is the stigma.

But if one is committed to helping himself then yes we are there to help them. Today people with neuroses like phobias, anxieties, depression, and those with the more serious psychotic problems like schizophrenia, bi–polar disorder, personality disorder etc. all come here to help each other out.

Start Previous 1 2 Next End

Users' Comments