Guest Column: Down The Memory Lane..

Volume 4 Issue 12 Dec 2014

BEFREINDING!

“You bloody bast@#$%, what do you think of yourself? I know you give more attention and time to people
of your Gujarati community and to other patients like us you cut short….. @#$% …. I won’t leave you …. I
am waiting outside the hospital gate for you to come out…. @#$% ….You don’t know what a patient of
paranoid schizophrenia can do ….” He disconnected the call before I could explain or defend myself.

Govindum was under my treatment for paranoid schizophrenia since about 15 years. He was very
compliant, responded well to the treatment and started working. After the death of his parents and marriage
of his sister he was staying all alone by himself. He would come to our department almost every day to talk
to me about his life events. Occasionally the staff members and residents would wonder and ask me about
him; why does he come to the department every day, how does he straight walk into my cabin without any
formalities, at any time of the day and talk to me without any restrictions. I would explain that this is a kind
of befriending. He is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, he is all alone, there is no one to look after
him; in this kind of situation he is dependent on me. If I try to put any limits on his visits, he may turn
hostile and non-compliant and so I am entertaining him almost every day without any restrictions.

On the day of the above mentioned incident, as usual he came to my cabin and found me busy with some
other patients and felt that I did not give him enough attention and so he left in anger, called me on my
mobile, abused me and threatened to assault me.

I was taken aback; I did not know what to do; would he be really waiting outside the hospital gate for me as
he has threatened? Should I report to hospital security and seek their help or should I straight go to police
and register a complaint against him. I was baffled.

As I was leaving the department to go home, I received another call from Govindum. I was afraid, I did not
pick up the call. He persisted and called again; I gathered some courage and apprehensively picked up the
call.

“ …. Sorry, sorry …. Please forgive me …. I won’t do it again …. Please …. Please ….. Please …. “
I breathe a sigh of relief…. Befriending continued.