Located at the heart of Kanakapura road, the route to Cadabams was serene, scenic and lush with greenery. This in itself set a pleasant invite to the mental rehabilitation centre that strives to provide a better lifestyle for those who need help. Unlike many peers, I wasn’t very apprehensive or presumptuous before entering the ‘Old Block’ named so because it was the very first building of Cadabams. Walking through the gates, a glance around justified that this place was not only warm and inviting but the inhabitants were also very hospitable. The patients waved at us with their big eyes and smiles and that touched my heart. We were then guided to ‘Adrutha’ which is a home for special children. We seated ourselves comfortably in one of their classrooms and a Counselor at Cadabams briefed us about all that we needed to know before venturing out and getting to know the lifestyles of the patients. Before doing so, the Counselor informed us that nobody at Cadabams was called a ‘patient’. Everybody was a resident there and Cadabams provides their best efforts to ensure that these residents felt at home. After the briefing, we were introduced to another counselor and she took us to ‘Amita’, a block named after the founder’s sister whose photo frames were all around the block. The Counselor took us to ‘Anunitha’, a de-addiction centre for alcohol and drug abusers. There I got the privileged opportunity to witness the alcoholic’s anonymous meeting, where a group of about 15 alcohol addicts were seated in a circle accompanied by two counselors. The purpose of this half an hour meeting was to make the residents feel that they were not alone and they could talk about their problems to the others who have been through similar experiences as them. The rapport between the group was good and although a few people were mostly listening rather than talking. They all displayed a keen interest in getting rid of their alcohol problem. This meeting was also filled with a lot of humor with a few residents sharing jokes and experiences. Post the visit to ‘Anunitha’, I was anointed to meet Mr. P. Balaji, who is also an alcohol addict. The purpose of this meeting was to understand better from the personal experiences of the residents. When I sat down to talk to him, I realized how important building rapport is. After the ice breaker session, he spoke about the problems in his family which ultimately led him to abuse alcohol and end up at Cadabams. A self proclaimed atheist, Balaji believed in himself and not any supernatural entity that would solve all his problems. However, he was very fond of horror movies and believed in the existence of spirits.
After my talk with him, I met up with the rest of my peers outside the rehabilitation block and soon we were talking nineteen to a dozen about the interactions we’ve had with our allotted residents. We all met different people, with different lives and different problems. One had Histrionic, the other had paranoia accompanied with Histrionic personality disorder. However, about 75% of residents at Cadabams were suffering from some type of Schizophrenia. A Paranoid Schizophrenic patient always wore a helmet while the other sat under the hot sun and glared around. This is how it all looked on the exterior, like they were made of stone. But, this is not true because they all had so many issues within themselves that their pain was expressed only when they did try to communicate. Some residents would approach and talk to us and they all seemed very normal and this made me realize that life isn’t always how it seems to be. What’s on the outside is a paradox to what’s on the inside. After snacks at ‘Neeraja’ and lunch at ‘Old Block’, we had to wash our own dishes and only four people were allowed to sit on the table.
We were taken back to ‘Adrutha’ for our final session. Here is where we were all introduced to Mr. John who shared his experience at Cadabams with us. Mr. John wasn’t only the mind behind the software at Cadabams but he also suffered from Manic- Depressive disorder. He was over qualified and had an eagerness to share with us all that he knew and had been through. After him, we were introduced to two other ladies. One suffered from Manic Depressive disorder and the other suffered from Borderline Personality disorder. Their experiences almost made me cry and their suffering made me realize how fortunate and promising my life has been and how much content I should be for having a healthy mind. Although, all these people who spoke to us also once had near perfect lives and suddenly fell ill or had distraught childhoods and recurrent anxiety and fears. They are no different from us and there is only a fine line difference and in many ways they were better than us.
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