Publications
The Psychological Impact Of The Partition Of India
Book by Sanjeev Jain and Alok Sarin (Eds.)
Sage Publications, 2018.
The absence of psychological narratives of the Partition of India is a deafening silence. In this edited volume, literary theorists, feminists, political scientists, and psychiatrists discuss the possible reasons for the silence. Coming from a series of seminars, discussions, and archival explorations, this collection attempts to begin some dialogue around this sensitive subject.
The rights of the book reverted to the editors in 2023, and they have chosen to make the full text available for you to freely download, share, and use in your own work. It is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Other Publications
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Article by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
The British Journal of Psychiatry. 224 (5). 2024 April.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A thumbnail sketch of Owen Berkeley-Hill, a mental hospital superintendent in India on the cusp of Independence, and his attempts to nudge social change.
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Article by P. Radhika, Chethan Basavarajappa, Ajit Bhalchandra Dahale, Shyam Sundar Arumugham, Jaisoorya T.S., Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 89. 2023 November.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Between the two World Wars, many treatments for mental illness were developed. The Mysore Mental Hospital adopted some of these treatments very early. We still do not know how or why they work.
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COVID-19's Lingering Toll: Examining Mental Health Consequences in India
Article by Alok Sarin, Jitender Jakhar, Sanjeev Jain
India International Centre Quarterly. 49 (3 & 4). 2023 Winter & Spring.
Theme: History of Medicine, History of Psychiatry, Practice
In the fourth year now of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be a good time to talk about what our response to this most traumatic event in collective living memory has been. The fact that different groups of people will have responded differently is clear. Here we make an attempt to delineate some of the varied factors behind these various responses.
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Article by Sarah Ghani, Ajit Bhalchandra Dahale, Chethan Basavarajappa, Jaisoorya T.S., Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. 0 (0). 2023 March.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Psychosurgery to manage mental illness was enthusistically adopted in India, but gradually abandoned. The social and techno-scientifc responses to mental illness in mid-20th century India are highlighted.
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The Histories of the Mad
Article by Alok Sarin
Proceedings of the First ICG Annual Conference. 2022 October.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's capital boasted of an asylum originally established by Honigsberger, a German doctor. When the British took over the Sikh kingdoms, an asylum was quickly re-estestablished, and we provide a collage of vignettes of the history of the Lahore Mental Hospital. One of the largest asylums in undivided India, its history provides a worm's-eye view of the politics of the subcontinent.
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Wounded souls: 75 years after India’s Partition, survivors' trauma has still not been recognized
Essay by Sanjeev Jain
The Conversation. 2022 September.
Theme: Partition
A break in continuity of the Self causes significant distress. This is equally true when this break is inflicted by unknown and ambiguous political events.
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The Evolution of Community Epidemiological Studies in India: A Subaltern Critique 🔒
Chapter by Pratap Sharan, Ananya Mahapatra, Debjani Das, Alok Sarin
in Reimagining Psychiatric Epidemiology in a Global Frame: Towards a Social and Conceptual History, Lovell, A.M., & Oppenheimer, G.M. (Eds). University of Rochester Press. 2022 June.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The story of disease and disorder is often told from a Western, 'top-down' perspective. An appreciation of the subaltern view is a relatively recent advent. An attempt is made here to unpack psychiatric epidemiology in India through these lenses.
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Hysteria: The Complex and Convoluted Persistence of an Idea
Presentation by Sanjeev Jain
Science Gallery Bengaluru. 2022 May.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Hysteria has been an enigmatic concept from the early days of medicine, intersecting with issues of gender, class, emancipation, and the growth of 'scientific' medicine. We take a journey through the evolution of the idea and examine the persistence of the concept over time.
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Presentation by Alok Sarin
Science Gallery Bengaluru. 2022 April.
Theme: Law, Practice, Policy
A lecture on the psychiatric advance directive. This talk attempts to understand some of the paradoxes the concept raises.
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'The Indian Dream Will Be An American Photocopy'
Sanjeev Jain in conversation with Sugata Srinivasaraju
Outlook India. 2022 February.
Theme:
The application of medical philosophy to psychiatry emphasizes the shared and communitarian nature of human existence. Is the individual human psyche a social construct, or an expression of a singular, independent, autonomous liberty? Can a libertarian approach provide a framework for psychological well-being, or even care for the mentally ill?
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Debate: Suicide is a Societal, not a Mental Health, or even a Public Health Problem.
Discussion by Digvijay Goel, Brian Dennis, Alok Sarin
World Social Psychiatry. 3. 2021 September-December.
Theme: Practice, Policy
The reasons for suicide have long been debated, and the tensions between the sociologicical and the biomedical points of view have often been listed. D.S. Goel here uses data from New Zealand to privilege the sociological point of view, while Alok argues for a broader, more inclusive position.
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Article by Abel Thamby, Lavanya P. Sharma, Chethana Kishore, Jaisoorya T.S., Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 62. 2021 July.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
This article reviews patient details in one decade of the last century (1903–1911) at the Bangalore Lunatic Asylum, one of the earliest asylums to be maintained by a 'native kingdom'. It offers a snapshot of descriptions of mental illness, outcomes, and what conditions were like before the First World War. Steady reforms after that led to large changes. Even then, most people recovered, even if there were many deaths and some people stayed on for many years.
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INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA — PRELUDE TO KULTURSYMPOSIUM WEIMAR 2021
Presentation by Urvashi Butalia, Haimanti Roy, Sudhir Kakar, Sanjeev Jain, Amrita Narayanan
Goethe-Institut. 2021 June.
Theme: Partition
Historians, activists, and therapists discuss the psychological, medical, and socio-political consequences of the Partition.
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Essay by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Fifty Two. 2021 January.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A brief account of the asylum of Tezpur (established in 1876), its existence and growth in the eastern region of British India, and what happened when war between China and India exploded around it. A re-telling of the history of the hospital through its the annual reports.
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From schizophrenia to sainthood — Tajuddin Fakir 🔒
Article by Amruta Huddar, Tasneem Raja, Sanjeev Jain, Swaran P. Singh
Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 55. 2021 January.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A patient in the Nagpur Asylum, an ex-soldier, is diagnosed as having a chronic mental illness, but is also thought to possess powers of teleportation and the capacity to grant boons. He is perceived as a saint whilst in the asylum, and continues to be revered even now. A dargah devoted to him is located just outside the mental Hospital. How does madness become visionary? What make others believe in these visions? What do we learn from this amorphousness?
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The Pandemic and Social Psychiatry
Article by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 36 (Supplement 1). 2020 October.
Theme: Policy, Practice, History of Medicine
Reflections on the mental health impact of the pandemic. The pandemic has made clear the fragility of social equity, and the intrinsic vulnerabilities of society. The article points out the need for incorporating both scientific thought and social sensitivity in policy planning for effective community mental health.
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Mental illness is too often consigned to the backyard
Shahid Akhter interviews Sanjeev Jain
The Economic Times. 2020 October.
Theme: Policy
The emblematic 'Cinderella' within medical services, mental health care — especially for the most seriously ill — is underfunded, underserved, and inadequate. A century of neglect and austerity need redressal.
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Of Mind and Matter — Partition and the Psychological Strains of Migration
Presentation by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
National Centre for Biological Sciences. 2020 July.
Read about this presentation (via the Indian Cultural Forum).
Theme: Partition
An exploration of the psychological trauma caused by partition and migration.
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Mental Health and the Coronavirus: A Global Perspective
Article by Vandana Gopikumar, Deborah Padgett, Alok Sarin, Roberto Mezzina, Andrew Willford, Sanjeev Jain
World Social Psychiatry. 2. 2020 May-August.
Theme: History of Medicine, History of Psychiatry, Policy, Practice
Some thoughts on the impact of the recent coronavirus epidemic. The article highlights the need for thinking about mental health and planning services.
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Contact tracing, hotspots and plodding through sewers: Cholera in Bangalore 1895 🔒
Essay by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
The Federal. 2020 April.
Theme: History of Medicine
Sir Ronald Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society and Nobel laureate, explores the reasons for an epidemic of cholera and the urban decay of Bangalore, 1896, while a doctor with the Indian Medical Service.
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Futures Foretold: The Pandemic and Resonance from History
Article by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
India International Centre Quarterly. (1 & 2). 2020 Summer & Autumn.
Theme: History of Medicine
The Spanish Flu of 1919 killed millions in India. The epidemic occurred after the First World War, and around the period when other rather significant political events were taking place, but, somehow, did not seep into the public consciousness. There are some startling similarities between how that pandemic and the more recent one, a century later, played out.
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Essay by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
The Indian Quarterly. 2019 July-September.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The accounts of some patients in the Lunatic Asylum of Delhi describe political intrigue, the Great Game, and how the events of 1857 affected life inside and outside the asylum.
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Article by Alok Sarin
India Today. 2018 August.
Theme: Practice
This article explore the tensions between humanitarian ideals and the pragmatic call in the practice of medicine.
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'Happyness—Life Lessons from a Creative Addict': a book review
Book review by Alok Sarin, Ananya Mahapatra
India International Centre Quarterly. 45 (2). 2018 Autumn.
Theme:
Dr Yussuf Merchant has for many years run a rehabilitation facility for those with substance use disorders. In the book Happyness—Life lessons from a Creative Addict, he describes his journey and philosophy. A review of the book.
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Article by Alok Sarin
India Today. 2018 March.
Theme: Law, Practice
The societal and legal responses to euthanasia have been discussed for a long time. The recent judgement has only rekindled this debate. This piece analyses the court judgement on euthanasia and reflects on its implications for the practice of psychiatry.
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The Elephant at the Workplace
Article by Alok Sarin
India Today. 2018 March.
Theme: Law, Policy
This article explores the factors that contribute towards building an understanding of issues around sexual harassment.
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Syphilis and psychiatry at the Mysore Government Mental Hospital (NIMHANS) in the early 20th century
Article by Sarah Ghani, Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 60 (Supplement 2). 2018 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry, History of Medicine
Advances in biomedicine allowed a blood test for syphilis, a sexually-transmitted disease. Chronic syphilis was one of the major causes for prolonged mental illness, known as General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI). Using archival material from the Mysore Government Mental Hospital (now NIMHANS), this paper explores early notions of the illness, misdiagnosis, societal responses, the advent of the Wasserman test, and treatment response.
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Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 60 (Supplement 2). 2018 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Professional and personal lives intersect in Indo-British psychiatry in the 1930s. A number of Indian doctors were trained in the UK between the two World Wars, and became Superintendents and specialists. Many British psychiatrists worked across India. A professional society was etsablished just before the Second World War, but was dissolved at the time of Independence.
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The fractured history of the mental hospital in Delhi
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 60 (Supplement 2). 2018 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The fascinating and little-known story of the mental hospital in Delhi in its various avatars. Empires formed and crumbled, as did the asylum. The new capital did not have a mental hospital until the 1960s. This neglect has had its consequences.
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Turning the pages, or why history is important to psychiatry
Guest editorial by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 60 (Supplement 2). 2018 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
At the time of Independence, the history of psychiatry in India was largely the history of the mental hospitals. While across the world, at least in the popular narrative, mental hospitals have received bad press, not everything that happened in these hospitals was problematic. This essay, a preface to the special issue on the history of psychiatry in India in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, introduces the theme of the issue and talks about the importance of these different histories, and also why history is so integral to the discipline of psychiatry.
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Special Issue on the History of Psychiatry in India
Guest edited by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 60 (Supplement 2). 2018 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The first dedicated issue of the Indian Journal of Psychiatry focusing on a pan-Indian historical vista. Presented at a commemorative event at the Central Institute of Psychiatry in its centenary year, with Owen Berkeley-Hill, the grandson of the famous Dr Owen Berkeley-Hill, former Superintendent of the hospital, as the chief guest.
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What Tipu Sultan's analysis of his own dreams tell us about the misunderstood ruler
Essay by Sanjeev Jain
Scroll.in. 2018 January.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Dream interpretation has a long and continuous history in Islam, and all cultivated persons were supposed to be able to record and interpret their dreams, or take the help of expert soothsayers or saints. Tipu Sultan's dreams reflect this awareness, and his dream analysis presages Freud. The processes described are often analogous, or even congruent, to Freud's description of dream analysis.
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The Psychological Impact of the Partition of India
Book by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
Sage Publications. 2018.
Theme: Partition
The absence of psychological narratives of the Partition of India is a deafening silence. In this edited volume, literary theorists, feminists, political scientists, and psychiatrists discuss the possible reasons for the silence. Coming from a series of seminars, discussions, and archival explorations, this collection attempts to begin some dialogue around this sensitive subject.
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On gender dysphoria, or what exactly is gender dysphoria? 🔒
Opinion by Alok Sarin
Current Medicine, Research and Practice. Vol 7, Issue 5. 2017 October .
Theme: Policy, Practice
An invited editorial to a dedicated issue exploring different facets of gender dysphoria. As societal attitudes to gender identity evolve, there are questions that we may want to reflect upon.
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Broadening the argument on limb lengthening
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. 2017 July.
Theme: Policy
A commentary on a recent article and the ongoing debate on surgery for non-medical indications.
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Article by Alok Sarin, Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 59 (2). 2017 April-June.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Telegraph services were developed in 1850 and played an important role in military strategy in 1857 for the British. By the end of the 19th century, these were also used to promote gambling. An essay on advances in technology, behavioural addictions, and their convoluted histories.
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Article by Alok Sarin
India Today. 2017 March.
Theme: Law, Practice
Legal tools, medical understandings, and societal responses have a complicated and even uneasy relationship. This is a commentary on the Mental Health Care Bill.
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Psychiatry in India: Historical Roots, Development as a Discipline and Contemporary Context 🔒
Chapter by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin, Nadja van Ginneken, Pratima Murthy, Christopher Harding, Sudipto Chatterjee
in Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific, Minas, H., & Lewis, M. (Eds). Springer. 2017 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
An introduction to the history of thinking about psychiatric symptoms and disease, and methods to treat or manage these conditions in the subcontinent. The main focus is on the colonial period, when formal, institutional treatments were introduced across the country, and eventually led to the growth of psychological disciplines. This has had an impact on the nature and kind of services that are made available in contemporary India.
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Mapping Difficult Terrains: The Writing of Policy on Mental Health 🔒
Chapter by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
in The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health, White, R., Jain, S., Orr, D., & Read, U. (Eds). Palgrave Macmillan. 2017 February.
Theme: Policy
The twists and turns, over time, of formulating a mental health policy in independent India, from early attempts in the mid-20th century to more recent ones.
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Article by Sanjeev Jain
Neurology India. 2017 January-February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A rare neurological syndrome, otherwise identified only recently, may have been described more than a century ago, and may even have a genetic footprint in southern India.
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How centres of faith can help provide better mental health care in India
Article by Vandana Gopikumar, K.V. Kishore Kumar, Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Scroll.in. 2016 Sept.
Theme: Practice
In many ways, the 'scientific' or 'medical' approach to health care is seen as an antithesis to the 'faith-based'. The need, however, may be to better understand both models and attitudes towards mental health care.
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'The scale of the problem is immense'
Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed interviews Sanjeev Jain
The Hindu Frontline. 2016 August.
Theme: Policy, Practice
A discussion on the state of mental health services in the country, and what these could look like.
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Madness and sanity at the time of Indian independence
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 58 (3). 2016 July-September.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A portrayal of Independence as a delusion, as an idea, and as a clinical symptom.
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More than brick and mortar: Reconstructing histories of mental hospitals in India
Booklet by Alok Sarin, Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
NIMHANS. 227. 2016.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Vignettes and accounts of the mental hospitals in Delhi, Madras, Ranchi, Bangalore, and Tezpur from the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Discussion by Sanjeev Jain, Bhrigupati Singh, Madhavan Mukund
SynTalk. 2015 November.
Theme: Practice, Policy
An interdisciplinary talk on memory and processes of decay. A psychiatrist, a computer scientist, and an anthropologist debate the issue.
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Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 57(4). 2015 October-December.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
One of the first Indian psychiatrists, and an explorer of psychoanalysis, D. Satyanand, IMS, was a fascinating man. He was the first Professor of Psychiatry at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences when it was established in the mid-1950s. His attempts to adapt and extend the psychotherapeutic understanding of persons and society in a time of change shows a willingness to grapple with difficult and contentious issues facing the country.
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The Curious Case of the Advance Directive in Psychiatry
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 31 (3-4). 2015 July-December.
Theme: Policy, Practice
An unpacking of the concept of the advance directive. Part of a series of articles on the psychiatric advance directive, this article further explores the strengths, weaknesses, and complexities of this fascinating concept.
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Discussion by Alok Sarin, Bhargavi Davar, Parthasarathi Mondal
SynTalk. 2015 July.
Theme: Law, Policy, Practice
An interdisciplinary talk on the nature of madness and the many controversies that surround it. A psychiatrist, a mental health activist, and a social scientist debate the issue.
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Article by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2015 April-June.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Arthur Cole, a representative of King George III (already diagnosed as having a mood disorder) describes an episode of the mental illness of King Vira Rajendra of Coorg and speculates on the links between politics, power, and madness. Local history and the psychological observations of an Irish officer in Mysore: from colony to colony.
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Mental health care is an inalienable right
Opinion by Sanjeev Jain
The News Minute. 2015 March.
Theme: Policy, Practice
Access to health care, including mental health care, is a fundamental right of every citizen. An exploration of how this should drive good mental health care.
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Psychological symptoms and medical responses in nineteenth-century India 🔒
Article by P. Radhika, Pratima Murthy, Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
History of Psychiatry. 26 (1). 2015 February.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Early medical descriptions by both British and Indian doctors are both remarkably global and local. British doctors apply their understanding of 19th century European psychiatry to patients in India, and Indian doctors discuss hysteria, psychotherapy, and outcomes of mania.
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Bad Times and Sad Moods
Chapter by Alok Sarin, Sarah Ghani, Sanjeev Jain
in Partition: The Long Shadow, Butalia, U. (Ed.). Zubaan and Penguin Books India. 2015 January.
Read an excerpt (via Scroll.in).
Theme: Partition
In this article, we review personal accounts of experiences during the Partition through the lenses of contemporary mental health narratives. A questionnaire circulated to various professional colleagues was the basis of trying to see how present mental health lenses would conceptualise the narratives of trauma and suffering. If trauma is recognized, what do we offer as succour?
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Mindscape and landscape: an illustrated history of NIMHANS, 1850–2014 🔒
Book by P. Radhika, Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
NIMHANS. 2015.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Traces the development of ideas and professionals as well as the buildings and trees of NIMHANS.
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A lunatic and a murderer, or Berkeley-Hill's machine-gun
Article by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 56 (4). 2014 November-December.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Lt. Col. Owen-Berkeley Hill of the Indian Medical Service, as the Superintendent of the Ranchi Mental Hospital, is caught up in a tribal uprising and strikes in the Chota Nagpur area in the 1920s. He takes a potshot at the absurdity of the situation.
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Article by Nagaraj S. Moily, Lakshmi Narayanan Kota, Ram Murthy Anjanappa, Sowmya Venugopal, Radhika Vaidyanathan, Pramod Pal, Meera Purushottam, Sanjeev Jain, Mahesh Kandasamy
PLoS Currents. 6. 2014 September.
Theme: History of Medicine
Genetic structure of Huntington's disease suggests that the mutation is shared between European and Indian populations, perhaps since ancient times.
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On “standing alongside the patient in his difficulties” or the privileging of the historical
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 56 (3). 2014 July-September.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
An introductory piece to the series on the history of psychiatry.
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The development of mental health services within primary care in India: learning from oral history 🔒
Article by Nadja van Ginneken, Sanjeev Jain, Vikram Patel, Virginia Berridge
International Journal of Mental Health Systems. 8. 2014 July.
Theme: History of Psychiatry, Policy
Using interviews, field work, and records, Nadja van Ginneken traces the history of services for the poor within the ambit of government health care systems.
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On criminalization and pathology: a commentary on the Supreme Court judgment on Section 377
Opinion by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. XI (1). 2014 January-March.
Theme: Law, Policy, History of Psychiatry
Written before the historic 2018 'reading down' of Article 377, which de-criminalised homosexuality, this article comments on the 2014 Supreme Court judgement. It tries to understand how societal and psychiatric opinion may influence each other, and influence legislation. It also attempts understand the steps that need to precede more major change.
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'Em and the Big Hoom': a book review
Book review by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 55 (4). 2013 October-December.
Theme:
Jerry Pinto, in this evocative story of growing up with a family member with a mental disorder, tells a fascinating tale. The tale of love, pain, and silence in the spaces between healing is deftly woven. A book review.
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Roshan Dhunjibhoy is Dead
Article by Alok Sarin
India International Centre Quarterly. 2013 Autumn.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Major Jal Dhunjibhoy was one of the first prominent Indian medical superintendents of a mental hospital in British India, and has been for long a fascinating figure because of his writings. His daughter Roshan, an equally interesting person, was in touch with Alok. She describes the life of her father and her memories of the hospital in Ranchi.
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The 300 Ramayanas and the District Mental Health Programme
Article by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Economic & Political Weekly. 48 (25). 2013 June.
Theme: History of Psychiatry, Policy
The District Mental Health Programme is the flagship community mental health intervention of the Government of India, and is now in place in a very large number of districts across the country. However, opinions vary about its effectiveness. Using the trope of the 300 Ramayanas, we try and look at the multiplicity of narratives that both help and hinder our understandings of the DMHP.
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International Advisers to the Bhore Committee
Article by Alok Sarin, Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
Economic & Political Weekly. 48 (10). 2013 March.
Theme: History of Psychiatry, History of Medicine, Policy
After Independence, perhaps the only central service to get disbanded was the Indian Medical Service. Interestingly, the Bhore Commission made some rather important suggestions that were not actually followed. This article looks at the fascinating personas of the international advisors to the committee.
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Broad-based with a cutting edge: The evolution and growth of NIMHANS 🔒
Article by Pratima Murthy, Sanjeev Jain
Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 5 (4). 2012 December.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Institutional histories and biographies of psychiatric specialists in mid-20th century Mysore. An exploration of the ideas that may have contributed to what NIMHANS is today.
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Deletion of the APOBEC3B gene strongly impacts susceptibility to falciparum malaria 🔒
Article by Pankaj Jha, Swapnil Sinha, Kanika Kanchan, Tabish Qidwai, Ankita Narang, Prashant Kumar Singh, Sudhanshu S. Pati, Sanjib Mohanty, Saroj K. Mishra, Surya K. Sharma, Shally Awasthi, Vimala Venkatesh, Sanjeev Jain, Analabha Basu, Shuhua Xu; Indian Genome Variation Consortium; Mitali Mukerji, Saman Habib
Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 12 (1). 2012 November.
Theme: History of Medicine
Falciparum malaria is quite lethal for some people in Central India, but not others. Recently migrated non-tribal populations are more susceptible. The genetic basis for this corresponds to the shifting demographics of central India.
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Partition and the Mentally Ill
Letter to the Editor by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Economic & Political Weekly. 47 (29). 2012 July.
Theme: Partition
Manto's short story Toba Tek Singh really happened, and, despite assertions to the contrary by Lord Mountbatten, the patients of the Lahore Mental Hospital were divided on sectarian grounds. This is much more upsetting than reading it as literature, as farce, or as political commentary.
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On covert medication: the issues involved
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 54 (3). 2012 July-September.
Theme: Policy
The practice of using medicines covertly to manage disturbed behaviour has long been common in the practice of psychiatry in India. This raises many ethical, practical, and theoretical issues that rarely get debated. This article is part of an ongoing discussion that has spanned a psychiatry mailing list and a Canvas Askew debate.
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On psychiatric wills and the Ulysses clause
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 54 (3). 2012 July-September.
Theme: Law, Policy, Practice
Going on to critically examine the concept of the psychiatric advance directive, this article looks at the history and the philosophy of the legal tool.
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Psychiatric advance directives: potential challenges in India
Article by Alok Sarin, Pratima Murthy, Sudipto Chatterjee
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. IX (2). 2012 April.
Theme: Law, Practice, Policy
A critical review of the concept of the advance directive in psychiatric practice. A seemingly attractive option may open up unanticipated difficulties.
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The census of India and the mentally ill
Article by Alok Sarin, Sanjeev Jain
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 54 (1). 2012 January-March.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Public health, accountability, famines, and the counting of the 'insane' in pre-Independence India (1871-1941). They have not been counted since.
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From the diaries of Dr Smith. . .
Essay by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Deccan Herald. 2011 June.
Theme: History of Medicine
Dr Smith was born in Seringapatnam, studied medicine in England, and worked in Bangalore and Mysore for most of life, looking after humans and, occasionally, cattle and horses. He was also the personal physician to Sir Mark Cubbon. In this paper, we attempt a glimpse into his life and thoughts through his diaries.
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Amendments to the Mental Health Act, 1987: key controversies
Article by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. 2010 October.
Theme: Law, Policy
A commentary on legal debates around mental health legislation. Written before the conceptualisation of the Mental Health Care Act, this paper helps to understand some of the issues that paved the way to the drafting of the MHCA.
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Article by Inder Singh, Mohammed Faruq, Odity Mukherjee, Sanjeev Jain, Pramod Kumar Pal, M.V. Padma Srivastav, Madhuri Behari, Achal K. Srivastava, Mitali Mukerji
Annals of Human Genetics. 74 (3). 2010 May.
Theme: History of Medicine
This is a common recessive disorder, but the mutation may have occurred at separate times in the recent past, and been transmitted in a different manner depending on how common endogamy (marrying within community confines) is. Social custom and genetics intersect in many ways.
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The first indigenous specialists at the Lunatic Asylum and AIIMH, Bangalore
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 52 (Supplement 2). 2010 January.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
An exploration of the history of NIMHANS from its cautious beginnings to its present, and of the people who forged it.
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The other Bose: an account of missed opportunities in the history of neurobiology in India
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
Current Science. 97 (2). 2009 July.
Theme: History of Psychiatry, History of Medicine
An extract of Rauwolfia serpentina was used to treat mania in Calcutta in 1930 by Sen and Bose. Many other active extracts were identified by Salimuzzaman Siddiqui. These were being used in mental hospitals across India. The extracts were also the basis of efficient anti-hypertensive interventions, and helped Professor Jal Vakil develop early cardiology medications. Extraction of the active component, reserpine, and understanding its actions on synapses and circuitry lies at the root of modern treatments of schizophrenia, depression, and Parkinson's disease. Interestingly, despite these early efforts, research into neurobiology in India faltered.
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Book review by Alok Sarin
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 51 (71). 2009 January-March.
Theme:
Amandeep Sandhu, in Sepia Leaves, tells the story of growing up with a parent who has mental illness. A review of the book.
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Chapter by James H. Mills, Sanjeev Jain
in Permeable Walls, Mooney, G., & Reinarz, J. (Eds). Brill. 2009 January.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Sir Edward Mapother was instrumental in establishing services at the Maudsley Hospital, which later became the Institute of Psychiatry. He offers to review the workings of mental health services in south Asia (1937), as a prelude to the transfer of power. While being severely critical of services in British India, his suggestions describe the how and why of the transfer of the 'white man's burden' of caring for the mentally ill.
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Opinion by Vivek Benegal, Alok Bajpai, Debasish Basu, Neelam Bohra, Sudipto Chatterji, R.B. Galgali, D.S. Goel, Mohan K Isaac, Venugopal Jhanwar, Rajkumar Lenin, P.M. Madhavan, A.K. Mittal, E. Mohandas, Thyloth Murali, Pratima Murthy, Rajesh Nagpal, S. Nambi, C. Ram Subramaniam, Shubhangi Parkar, Prasad Rao, M.S. Reddy, Alok Sarin, T.P. Sudhakar, B.M. Tripathi, Matthew Varghese
Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 49 (4). 2007 October-December.
Theme: Policy
A proposal to create a network of interested clinicians who share an interest in addiction medicine.
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Mapother of the Maudsley and Psychiatry at the End of the Raj 🔒
Chapter by James H. Mills, Sanjeev Jain
in Psychiatry and Empire, Mahone, S., & Vaughan, M. (Eds). Palgrave Macmillan. 2007.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The state and status of psychiatric services was undergoing a great churning in the early 20th century. Reform was thought essential. This included services in the UK, as also the British Empire. Intersections between the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry in London (created to improve psychiatric care in Britain), and psychiatry in south Asia.
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Lost souls, troubled minds: the medicalization of madness in Mysore State during the British Raj
Chapter by Purushottama Bilimoria, Sanjeev Jain, James H. Mills, Pratima Murthy, Sally Percival Wood
in Traditions of Science: Cross-cultural perspectives — Essays in honour of B.V. Subbarayappa, B. V. Subbarayappa, Purushottama Bilimoria, Melukote K. Sridhar (Eds.). Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. 2007.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Ideas about mental health and madness and their control as they developed in 19–20th century Mysore.
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Madmen and specialists: The clientele and the staff of the Lunatic Asylum, Bangalore 🔒
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy
International Review of Psychiatry. 18 (4). 2006 August.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
A history of the asylum in Bangalore, at one time the only one to be maintained by a 'native kingdom'.
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Editorial for the International Review of Psychiatry, 18 (4)
Guest editorial by Sanjeev Jain
International Review of Psychiatry. 18 (4). 2006 August.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
This issue of the International Review of Psychiatry focuses on the history of psychiatry in some of the countries that have been under colonial rule in Asia and Africa, and looks at both similarities and differences in the ways in which these have evolved.
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Special Issue on the History of Psychiatry 🔒
Guest edited by Sanjeev Jain
International Review of Psychiatry. 18 (4). 2006 August.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
This special issue of the International Review of Psychiatry tries to describe the history of psychiatry in the Indian Ocean littoral region. Most accounts of the history of psychiatry have been confined to the Atlantic, and, in this issue, the growth of psychiatry in West and East Africa, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand are put together. We discover obvious similarities with systems prevalent in the countries that once ruled these regions, but also similarities and differences between how they have negotiated the more recent past. This is important as the many places in the region have similar issues, and history, as always, teaches best by example.
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Article by Uma Mittal, Achal K. Srivastava, Satish Jain, Sanjeev Jain, Mitali Mukerji
Archives of Neurology. 62 (4). 2005 April.
Theme: History of Medicine
Machado-Joseph disease is a common form of inherited ataxia, and seems to occur more in regions of Portuguese influence. Genetic material from Indian populations can be detected in many of these distant populations, in South America and Europe.
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Expanding colonies and expanding repeats 🔒
Article by Quasar Saleem, Uday Muthane, Inder C. Verma, Samir K. Brahmachari, Sanjeev Jain
Lancet. 359 (9309). 2002 March.
Theme: History of Medicine
Admixtures with European populations over millennia, and some more recent ones, influence the nature of Huntington's disease.
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Remembrance Of Things Past
Article by Sanjeev Jain
Deccan Herald. 2003.
Theme: History of Medicine
Indian society in the 1600s is held up as a paragon of virtue and tolerance by a contemporary commentator. Quite unlike Europe, which is racked by war and communal strife.
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Psychiatry and confinement in India 🔒
Chapter by Sanjeev Jain
in The Confinement of the Insane: International Perspectives, 1800–1965, Porter, R., & Wright, D. (Eds). Cambridge University Press. 2003.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The mentally ill have always been with us. Most societies developed methods of care. The changes in science and society encouraged the development of hospitals and institutions, and medicine took over the care of the mentally ill. This awareness is comparatively recent, and its growth in India is described in this essay. Companion essays in the volume describe this in other parts of the world over the same period.
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Neuropsychiatric perspectives from nineteenth-century India: the diaries of Dr Charles I. Smith 🔒
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Pratima Murthy, S.K. Shankar
History of Psychiatry. 12 (48). 2001 October.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
The professional experiences of a doctor in a small town in Mysore provide vignettes of psychiatry and medicine, including neurocysticercosis, as well as social medicine in the early 19th century. Dr Smith conducts autopsies of persons who have died after showing symptoms of abnormal behaviour. He describes changes in their brains, perhaps an early description of what would be recognized decades later as cysticercosis.
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Some reflections on the development of psychiatry in India 🔒
Article by Sanjeev Jain, Alok Sarin
National Medical Journal of India. 13 (6). 2000 November-December.
Theme: History of Psychiatry
Mesmerism flourished in Europe at the end of the 18th century, but had a contentious history. In its promise of a 'psychological influence' that could be shared across peoples, it was radically secular. James Esdaille established a Mesmeric Hospital in Sukea Street in Calcutta, but it was closed down soon after 1857. This hints at reasons why psychotherapy was abandoned for pharmacotherapy after 1857, and has never quite recovered.
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Psychiatrically Normal Individuals in Psychiatry Out Patient Department: Analysis of 244 cases
Article by Alok Sarin, Shekhar Saxena, N.N. Wig
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. 6 (1). 1983.
Theme: Practice, Policy
Some musings on the nature of psychiatric diagnosis.