Asylum : The Battle for Mental Healthcare in India

THE BATTLE FOR MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN INDIA PIECED TOGETHER FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY With new insights into the human mind, there is a better understanding of its disorders. Mental illness has ceased to be perceived as a mysterious malady, and science offers accepted methods of diagnosis and treatment. In most countries, the mentally ill have the same rights as any other citizen. They live a life of dignity, and with meaning. The days of forced confinement are gone, so too is the spectre of shame, and of stigma. In India, the reform in mental healthcare began in the early 20th century, during British rule. What was it that prompted this move? Which were the new ideas that took root? Who were the people that pushed for change? How did political events, and especially the World Wars and Partition, affect progress? What changed when Indian doctors and administrators took over the management of mental hospitals? What did all of this mean for the treatment and care of the mentally ill? Daman Singh looks for answers to these questions in this intriguing account of a little-known battle spanning a century and more.