Volume 2 Issue 4 April, 2012
How do I Understand This Case?
Once, Dr. Royadu narrated to me a clinical incident in his practice when he was a general practitioner in Ranibennur. A male daily‐wage laborer from a nomadic tribe attended his clinic with severe pneumonia and fever. Explaining the seriousness of the illness, the doctor advised him a course of treatment. The patient wanted to know the approximate cost. After being told, he told the doctor (English translation of North Karnataka dialect), “Doctor, I have to go to work tomorrow to earn money. I have just ten rupees with me now. If you can cure me with this, please do so. Otherwise, I will get back to my family and die peacefully.”
When I heard this, I was immediately wonderstruck at this labourer’s commitment to his responsibilities, courageous inner‐strength, submission to circumstances beyond his means, and more importantly, his sense of contentment in suffering. Here was a man who was not afraid of suffering (symptoms of pneumonia), nor afraid of dying! His sole concern was his responsibility to go to work next day to earn his wages, for which he sought remedy with the resources he had. Beyond that, he was ready to face the consequences peacefully!
I heard this story during the years I was preoccupied with defining mental health. The question, ‘how to understand this?’ still haunts me. Besides his pneumonia, could he have been mentally ill? Conversely, was he a living example of ideal mental health, irrespective of the sequel to his physical health?
Retired Prof. of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bengaluru
