Manthana Foundation

  Written by Dr. Arun Bhat P., Consultant Psychiatrist Read time - 5 minutes             Every year on September 21, we celebrate World Alzheimer's Day in order to create awareness, reduce stigma, and clear the misconceptions associated with Alzheimer’s Dementia. Dementia consists of a broad group of illnesses, of which Alzheimer’s dementia is also one and the most common. It is a chronic, slowly progressing illness that leads to the loss of many cognitive functions along with memory disturbances. Here's how people with dementia typically present to the clinic. An elderly couple in their 70s came to me for a consultation. The distressed wife recounted her sorrows like this: "Nowadays there is a significant change in my husband’s behaviour. I thought it was age-related forgetfulness at first. But it is much more severe, and it is gradually worsening. He keeps forgetting any new information. Within a few minutes of having food, he complains that I don’t give him any food. He

Written by Dr. Arun Bhat P., Consultant Psychiatrist Read time - 10 minutes                 When the doctor questioned the parents of a 13-year-old girl studying in the 8th standard who appeared to have tangled and messy hair, a trembling body, was uttering strange noises, and was possessed by the demi-god (Daiva), they answered, "Doctor, from the past 2 months she has been possessed by the daiva. It would start at 7 a.m. If prayer rituals are performed it would persist till late night until she is tired & exhausted. Then she goes to sleep. Even after taking magico-religious remedies, it would only give temporary relief from the condition. Hence, we were scared and felt helpless. At last, an astrologer asked us to come here to you for help." The girl’s father works abroad; the girl and her younger brother are being taken care of by their mother. After the girl’s parents were asked to sit outside, her possessions were mitigated, and she was pacified. Later, after gaining