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Health

His mind made HIM BLIND

June 25, 2017 06:55 AM


COURSTEY Jun 25 2017 : The Times of India (Ahmedabad)
His mind made HIM BLIND
Parth Shastri
TNN


Psychosomatic Disorders Are Physical Conditions Set Off By Psychological Causes Or Triggers
Abhesinh Vasava (name changed), 23, was an enigma for doctors at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
He had been admitted some time ago to treat vision loss. Overnight, the world for this Dahod native had begun to appear only in silhouettes in the morning, as though he was looking through an opaque glass. As the light of the day faded, he descended into darkness.

The doctors were puzzled as there was nothing wrong with his eyes -iris, retina, and cornea showed no signs of damage. As the doctors tried their best to ascertain why he went blind all of a sudden, the case was referred to psychiatrists. A startling revelation came after several months: Vasava's mind did not want to see and hence his eyes had merely followed that desire. Treatment improved his condition gradually and he could finally see again after months of counselling.

Dr Ajay Chauhan, the superintendent of the Government Hospital for Mental Health, while discussing cases of extreme psychosomatic disorders, cited the example of the patient from the tribal belt to explain how the mind affects the body .

“Initially, even the psychiatrists could not fathom the problem. He refused to speak about his past or any trauma,“ Chauhan said. “But as there was an element of psychosomatic disorder, the team persisted and even prepared him for narco analysis which is generally conducted in crime investigations. Slowly, he opened up and revealed that the root cause lay in love.“

Vasava was in love with a girl but had never professed it as he wanted to become someone worthy to make that move. Before he could do that, the girl got married -to his elder brother. It was deeply traumatic for Vasava and he started avoiding home. He even sought a job elsewhere because in his culture, sister-in-law was equivalent to mother.

In such a situation, Vasa va accidentally saw the woman bathing in the open in the village. He was torn between in fatuation and familial decorum. He left the place immediately and was gripped with guilt. The most dom inant thought was self-loathing. He was tormented by the fact that he had al lowed himself to be enamoured by a sight that he had no right to see.

“The feeling was so powerful that he actually lost his vision. Elaborate counselling made him realize that what happened had not been planned and that he was not at fault,“ Chauhan said. “He learnt to get past the trauma and as he got over self-hate, albeit involuntary, he regained his vision slowly .“

The Eve Factor

Can one imagine that stress can severely affect hormones?“ said Dr Nehal Shah, a Sabarmati-based psychiatrist. “In a case I took up earlier this year, a 34-year-old woman had highly erratic menstrual cycle and doctors feared that she might have a case of very early menopause.“ The patient was also suffering from hyperventilation, Shah said. “We started talking to her and learnt that she had married at the age of 18 and had soon after given birth to a child,“ Shah said.“As a member of a joint family, she always used to compare herself with her peers -some of whom were settled abroad and used to talk about life there.“ Shah said that even after the couple moved out of the joint family and her husband took her on vacation abroad as she desired, her condition did not improve. She had started feeling inferior to others. Psychiatric treatment put her menstrual cycle on track.

SYMPTOMS & CAUSES

According to international studies, seven out of 100 people suffer from a mild or severe psychosomatic disorder

Sudden mood swings, change in routine, hyperventilation and frequent complaints of headache or stomach ache are some of the early symptoms

The disorder is more prevalent in women; the most vulnerable age group is 15-35

Married women constitute a major proportion of the patient population, suffering from seizures and temporary paralysis of limbs

Stress, new environment, severe traumatic experience or unconscious attention-seeking are found to be major causes for psychosomatic disorders

If not treated in time, it can become chronic and in some cases lead to depression and ultimately to suicide

Disorders are found both in urban and rural populations but in rural areas, detection figures are lower

Psychosomatic disorders can be treated with proper diagnosis, counselling, and medication

Psychiatrists admit that there is great stigma attached to the diagnosis and treatment of such disorders as patients, especially men, don't want to be termed `mental' and refuse to see a psychiatrist or psychologist. But seeking early makes it makes it easier to treat complaints

In most cases, a visit to a psychiatrist is the last resort after the patient doesn't show any physical sign or doesn't respond to medications

Common signs of problem

Some of the most common symp toms of psy chosomatic dis orders include body pain that has no physiological basis. The patients complain of headache, stomach ache, pain in the hand or leg, pain spots moving from one area to another and extraordinary symptoms not consistent with the general mani festation of the problem.

For example, can a speechimpaired person talk selectively? Dr Ramashankar Yadav, an Ahmedabad psychiatrist, said one of his patients had suddenly lost her speech and could communicate with others only by writing on paper. However, she would join other women to sing bhajans. The voice died the moment bhajans ended.

“We eventually figured out that she was troubled by the move from a tenement to an apartment and the fact that the toilet was just opposite the in house temple,“ Yadav said. “Her husband was not listening to her concerns and that caused the condition.“

Dr Hansal Bha chech, another Ahmedabad psychia t r i s t , s a i d t h at a 40-year-old woman from an affluent family was undergoing treat ment for severe back pain for over five years.

No medication or physiotherapy could cure her. “During counselling, it was revealed that her husband had an open extramarital affair and the couple had frequent squabbles,“ Bhachech said.

“She imagined his role as the backbone of the family and saw it crumbling. It affected her so much that the thought itself got her bed-ridden.

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