(Photo: Flick/kAz)While villagers rely on rituals to ‘cure’ the delirium, health and
education departments conduct check-ups and counselling to solve the puzzle, while such incidents need expert attention and medical interventions. Dehradun, Uttarakhand:&nbsp;It was just
another day of studies at the government junior high school in Uttarakhand’s
Raikholi when things took a turn for the worse. Six Class 8 girls and two boys
threw a tantrum, with some banging their heads on the floor, and the rest screaming,
shivering and wailing in a semi-conscious state.<o:p></o:p>Though a video of the July 26 incident surfaced on&nbsp;Twitter, it
was dismissed by many as a routine&nbsp;phenomenon. The
focus was more on healing the children with prayers and age-old rituals, than medical
interventions to help them recover and studies to find out the reasons that
triggered it.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p><p class="storypara5" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 9.1pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Psychiatrists termed the incident at Raikholi, which
comes under Bageshwar district, a case of mass hysteria or psychological disorder.&nbsp;Dr Nandkishore, a
well-known psychiatrist in the state, told&nbsp;101Reporters&nbsp;that
trauma, stress, anxiety or something deeply entrenched in the mind may
trigger such behaviour. Social mores, the surrounding environments and difficult&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 20px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">geographical conditions&nbsp;could lead to
mass hysteria. <o:p></o:p><p class="storypara5" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 9.1pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.6;">Dr Nandkishore says, “In these hill areas,&nbsp;lack of
education, awareness and healthcare facilities impact social development. Girls are more vulnerable in such an atmosphere. Some rituals&nbsp;at a religious gathering&nbsp;and
beliefs&nbsp;also enforce the idea of supernatural personification or being in a trance. This could leave an impact on children who
often see such practices. Such cases&nbsp;of mass hysteria are seen mainly in adolescent girls. Sometimes it may be an
adaptive way for the girls to express their anxiety or depression.”Hem Bahuguna, a psychiatric social worker associated with Almora
Medical College, explained how customs and beliefs that talk of being possessed
by a deity or spirit could leave an imprint on the subconscious mind of children. "Many such incidents did not get attention or medical help as people associate this with their&nbsp;belief or social prestige. The role of psychologists&nbsp;and psychiatrists is also neglected by government." he said.&nbsp;&nbsp;When such incidents occurred
a few years ago, they were linked to stomach ailments. “The government of the
day then initiated a deworming programme!"&nbsp;because policymakers linked the phenomenon with the physical health and nutrition of the students.&nbsp;Sociologist Prem Bahukhandi said that it is a mental health issue which is mostly seen among underprivileged children. “It is high time the schools ran programmes on mental
health, But it is disappointing that the recent incident of Bageshwar School
failed to trigger a debate on mental health issues,” he added. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>Shortage of
psychiatrists&nbsp;&nbsp;A majority of
the posts of psychiatrists remain vacant in healthcare units across the state.
An RTI query by the Social Development for Communities Foundation of Dehradun
last year&nbsp;revealed that 24 of the total 28 posts of psychiatrists remained vacant in the&nbsp;Department
of Medical, Health &amp; Family Welfare of the Uttarakhand government.&nbsp;Only
<a href="https://sdcuk.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/RTI-Report-Compiled.pdf" target="_blank">two&nbsp;</a><a href="https://sdcuk.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/RTI-Report-Compiled.pdf" target="_blank">districts</a>&nbsp;of the total 13&nbsp;—&nbsp;Dehradun and Nainital&nbsp;—&nbsp;have psychiatrists occupying four scheduled posts.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 2019, a State
Mental Health Authority was set up in Uttarakhand where 8 members should been nominated. But the authority is working with only two members. After Bageshwar
incident <a href="https://health.uk.gov.in/upload/announcements/Announcement-146.pdf" style="">applications</a>
are invited for the remaining posts. Similarly, the state mental health institute is working
with only two psychiatrists while two posts are vacant.Even otherwise, there is a severe<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6341936/" target="_blank"> shortage</a> of psychiatrists and mental
health service providers across the county, with only&nbsp;0.75&nbsp;psychiatrists present for every one lakh people.&nbsp; Rituals take precedence<o:p></o:p>While the hill residents see mass hysteria-like cases as a periodic
occurrence that can be cured through prayers and rituals, the district
administration tried to project that the issue has been resolved and
all is well. Meanwhile, another similar incident was <a href="https://www.amarujala.com/dehradun/uttarakhand-news-bageshwar-saneti-village-students-got-mass-hysteria" target="_blank" style="">reported</a>&nbsp;on August 6 from an inter-college
in Bageshwar district where five girls started behaving abnormally.&nbsp;While such cases of mass hysteria&nbsp;should be examined by an expert psychiatrist, it is mostly handled through the lens of&nbsp;superstitions or basic medical treatment.Remembering the earlier incident, Headmistress Nirmala Verma said, one of the girls threw 'tantrums', which was repeated by the rest of the affected girls and boys. The next day saw a repeat of
the incident, in the same fashion. “On one occasion, the condition of the
students deteriorated right in the presence of officials, resulting in a
check-up and counselling session,” she said.&nbsp;Despite the medical help offered by the visiting officials from the health
and education departments for two to three days, the condition of one of the
girls deteriorated. She had to be admitted to the district hospital.Bageshwar Additional&nbsp;Chief Medical Officer Dr Harish Pokhariya, however, claimed
the condition of the girl was stable after counselling.Harish Ram, the father of one of the affected girls, told&nbsp;101Reporters:
“My daughter is fine when at home, but turns hysterical at school. Since
she tested normal at the hospital, we brought her home. She attended school
too, and seems to be stable now.”&nbsp;He added that the school had witnessed a similar incident almost three&nbsp;years ago.Journalist Sushmita Thapa, who covered the incident for a news outlet, said
the district authorities were hesitant to talk about what happened, while
locals thought it was better to hold a&nbsp;puja&nbsp;at the school to ward off evil spirits.&nbsp;“In fact, a&nbsp;puja&nbsp;was conducted in the school, which shows
that superstitions rule the roost here. Rooms in the school are dingy and dark,
with leaking roofs. This itself can negatively impact the children,” Thapa
felt.Meanwhile, Dr R Rajesh Kumar, the Secretary-in-charge of the Department of
Medical Health&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Family Welfare, told&nbsp;101Reporters&nbsp;that he had already told the chief medical officer of Bageshwar district and had taken note of the
incident. “Instructions&nbsp;have been issued for counselling of the children forthwith.
If experts are not available locally, they would be brought from Almora or
Haldwani,” he added.<o:p></o:p>While mass hysteria is not a hill-specific incident &nbsp;—&nbsp;Kathua in Jammu, Nepal, Vietnam and European countries have seen them
before&nbsp;—&nbsp;it should be addressed by implementing a well-thought-out mental health
programme.