Bindiya returns home after wandering on the streets for 10 years!
Bindiya was found on the streets of Birubari area in Guwahati. The public called to report a mentally disturbed women behaving in a socially unacceptable manner.
The rescue team brought her to the Transit Care center of Navachetana, a rehabilitation home for homeless women with mental illness. She was so disturbed that she tried to run away the minute she was brought to the home.
She was enrolled in the home and given a bath and a change of clothes. In her early days at the home, Bindiya used to stay unkempt. She would keep muttering to herself. She carried a pile of garbage that she wasn't willing to part with.
Once she settled down, she was sent for medical examination. She was diagnosed with Chronic Schizophrenia. The home then started pharmacotherapy for her.
In the initial days, Bindiya was irritable. Psycho-therapeutic sessions failed as she would present a guarded attitude and not cooperate. Sometimes she would walk out from the room. She remained emotionally and socially withdrawn. It was a challenge to communicate with her.
She would even refrain from maintaining basic personal hygiene and lacked toilet habits. The staff had to constantly prod her to carry out activities of daily living.
Over time as her therapy continued, her active symptoms of mental illness reduced. She was then shifted to her second phase of rehabilitation..
She started to get involved in household chores that required sharing responsibilities. This helped in her socialization skills. She learnt jute work that helped in refining her fine motor skills.
The therapists noted that her sense of responsibility was very high. She would never leave a job unfinished. Her social and motor skills were honed by giving her responsibilities that required her to supervise other residents. From being non cooperative, she soon started taking care of other residents.
Over a few months of therapy and workshops Bindiya recovered her memory. She remembered that she was from Jirrah village of Bankura district, West Bengal.
Ashadeep then initiated a plan for her reintegration with her family. When the reintegration team reached Bindiya place, the entire community gathered to welcome her.
The team learnt that she had been suffering from psychiatric illness for almost 30 years. Though they had initially sought treatment, they had to discontinue it as they couldn't afford it. One day she disappeared from home and over the years they had come to believe that she must have died while wandering on the streets.
Her husband and children were at a loss of words to express their emotions.
Bindiya had accepted her illness as her life dictation. It was due to Ashadeep tireless determination that she was finally home after 10 long years!
Today, she continues to get therapy and medication so she can have a normal life.
Your help can transform many more lives like those of Bindiya. You can donate so that underprivileged patients suffering from mental illness can receive therapy and be rehabilitated. You can give with confidence because every program listed is GIVEASSURED.
With therapy and rehabilitation, underprivileged patients suffering from mental illness can get a chance to live a normal life.
