Nepal organization works to establish help for those with mental illnesses

From Republica in Nepal:

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- In the pantheon of social welfare organizations, Koshish occupies an enviable position. Formed under the initiative of Matrika Prasad Devkota (pictured) -- a patient of unipolar depression for over two decades -- Koshish remains the only self-help organization for the mentally challenged in the country.

Established on August 8, 2008 with slogan “Voice of Voiceless”, the organization has rehabilitated over a dozen persons with mental disorders after picking them from the streets. The organization is currently taking care of two mentally challenged persons.
“The model of treatment for the mentally ill in Nepal relies heavily on medicines. We advocate for the kind of treatment, which also gives importance to treating patients socially,” Devkota explains.

Koshish, which hasn´t so far received support from any donor agency, is run through donations from well wishers and selfless efforts of volunteers. “The biggest contribution to the organization was a donation of Rs 50,000 offered by Mark Zimmerman (former director of Patan Hospital),” says founder president Devkota, who is still under medication for his mental illness.

Koshish is now also affiliated to the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. While Devkota is the Asia Pacific representative of the international self-help organization.

Born in 1970 as the youngest of three sons in a poor family of Aanppipal-2, Gorkha, Devkota used to be a bright student. He fell ill at the age of 15 while studying in the ninth grade at the Amar Jyoti School.

“Initially it was stomach pain, numbness and tingling sensation in limbs, back pain and indigestion. But later it turned into a sleep disorder. I had nightmares. I would often scream while asleep,” Devkota recalls. His parents first tried to pacify planetary powers. It took another 10 years when the doctors eventually diagnosed him with depression.

Unfortunately, his parents discontinued his treatment after a year thinking he was perfectly normal. “Acutely depressed, I was barely able to secure 59 percent in SLC. This was when my dream of studying science shattered,” he says. Devkota later completed his intermediate in forestry from Pokhara in the second division. He still wanted to study science when he was 23. However, his parents got him admitted in B ED instead.

Later, his parents realized their son was genuinely ill, when he couldn´t do well in studies. Devkota was then brought to Kathmandu for treatment. “The medicines would cost Rs 600 every month. Luckily, a Canadian friend of my foreign teacher sponsored the medicines for me four years,” he says.

The Canadian, Walton Mccaslin, also got Devkota a job at the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) in Dang in 1998. “The Canadian didn´t tell them that I was a mental patient. The job required a motorcycle license. So they first trained me to ride a bicycle before handing me the appointment letter,” he reminisces. Devkota credits his new life to Mccaslin, who also inspired him to establish Koshish. “I then started to earn money. I could buy my own medicines and even send money to my poor parents,” he says. And with the sense of self-recognition, Devkota also started to feel for those who were less fortunate.



He finally left his job to study BA in Social Work at Classic College in Gaushala, which he passed in the second division. “In January 2006, I picked up an 18-year-old mentally ill boy from a cold street in Sinamangal while returning from my college and took him to my room,” he recalls.

The boy was rehabilitated after 18 months. “The boy received financial help from St Xavier´s Social Service for medical treatment and will appear for SLC exams this year,” he informs. He then took another person - a 54-year-old insane woman, who had been expelled from home 25 years ago - in May, 2008. The woman was rehabilitated and sent back to her home in September, 2008. “We then formed Koshish a couple of months later to help such persons,” he says.

Devkota rues that patients with mental illness are often disowned by the society. “A spouse is allowed a divorce if the partner is mentally ill, assuming it to be an incurable disease,” he says, adding that the government has done precious little for the thousands of mental patients, who are left at the mercy of god.

“I have learnt that a Mental Health Policy was adopted in 1997. But the Ministry has not been able to provide me a copy of the policy,” he points at the level of negligence towards mental health.

He says even the organizations working for disabled persons have abandoned the mental patients despite the fact that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes mental illness as a psychosocial disability.

Mental patients are looked down upon by the society. He says he has not told his landlord in Patan, where he lives with his mother, of his illness for fear of being ousted.

Luckily for him, the people who support him for his cause are an exception. “They appreciate my endeavor and encourage me to continue with it,” he says, promising to continue to work for his ´big family´ of fellow patients.