Baru

Now 38 yrs old, Baru has been a chronic multiple drug user for the past 15-20 yrs. He has been admitted to Antara about 13 times. With very little education Barudropped out of school at the age of 13, when the drug problem began. Although his brother died from an overdose he himself has been unable to stop using. This time he has been at Antara for 5 months and has begun working in the kitchen. The money he gets from Antara he puts towards looking after his family and his newly born daughter. As well as receiving money for his work at Antara Baru is also provided with free treatment and accommodation at the hospital. He prays that the responsibility of her young life will give him the motivation to not relapse when he returns home.

Gopal

Gopal has been suffering from alcohol addiction for 12 years; he has been in Antara for the past 14 days. He used to work as a rickshaw driver and began drinking socially, however as the years passed the drinking just increased. Not only did this interrupt his working life but also meant that his wife had to leave her job as a teacher. Gopal  is 36 years old and has two children. His wife, children and himself are being supported by Missionaries of Charity. After having completed his detox period at Antara he says he doesn’t feel the need to drink anymore. He hopes that if he finds work after leaving Antara he will be able to continue like this.

Rajiv, Sanjay, Gaurav

One of Antara’s newer projects is to secure the release of persons from jail who have been placed there for the ‘crime’ of mental illness. These patients are all treated free of charge and so because of this, at the present time Antara can only afford to help three at a time. Antara’s current three are: Rajiv (45), Sanjay(44) and Gaurav(49).

Each of these men had been in jail for 10-20 years under the charge of ‘abnormal behaviour’. They had displayed various symptoms including visual and auditory hallucinations, lack of sleep, irrelevant talk, suspiciousness, wandering aimlessly and occasional aggressive behaviour. However instead of receiving psychological help they were taken off the streets and put in jail. They have now been diagnosed with combinations of schizophrenia and psychotic state disorder. Antara’s aim is to put them through a rehabilitation course, which involves 3 months in the men’s Acute ward before being moved to the MC Ward and a longer stay in the White Cross Bari to gain vocational skills.

(Note: Names in the following case-studies have been changed to preserve anonymity and pictures do not relate to the person described).