Dhanakala Saund of Thalara Rural Municipality-4, Dikla, spent nearly 12 years in agony after her husband became mentally ill. After her husband Chakra Saund suffered from a serious mental illness, 35-year-old Dhanakala, who had endured fear, terror, violence, pain and humiliation, has regained her smile after a long time.

‘If it weren’t for Yetika’s children, I would have died by now. I endured all the pain because of her love,’ said the mother of two sons and two daughters, ‘I felt like everything was over. I never thought that he would be fine and that we would live happily like this.’ After her husband’s mental health problem was discovered and treatment was possible in the village through regular psychosocial counseling and medication, Dhanakala’s face has regained its light. The turbulent atmosphere at home has become loving.

Initially, Chakra would get angry and abuse him for small things, but gradually he started beating him. ‘Not only me. He started beating the children too. He would throw stones and throw whatever weapons he found. We would get bloody from the injuries,’ Dhanakala said, recalling the days when he used to get angry. ‘Later, he would start abusing me on the road, laughing alone, and wandering around the village from house to house. I couldn’t sleep well at night for 12 years because I was afraid that he would come and kill everyone.’

Chakra, who was known as a very straightforward and friendly person in the village, had started having mental problems in India. After facing problems in providing food at home, he left Dhanakala in charge of his four minor children and went to India in 2068 BS to earn money. He went to India for the first time with his relatives and worked as a laborer in Andhra Pradesh. He used to wash cars from 4 am at night by working as a watchman at a house. He used to sleep for four or five hours in the afternoon and would work hard even if he got a job. He earned 60 thousand rupees in four months. Chakra, who had seen such a large amount of money for the first time and had not yet adapted well to the Indian environment, gave the money he earned to a relative from Bajhang who was already working there for safety.

‘You said you would send the money home after two months, but whose money? When will you give it to me?’ Chakra said, explaining the reason for his mental trauma. ‘What is the proof that I was given the money? I started saying that I would file a complaint with the police. The person who had entrusted me with my earnings turned out to be evil, so he could not think of anything.’ Chakra said that he had a connection with the local police and threatened to send him to jail after many words, so he considered it unsafe to stay there. Even after working for a month to save up for the journey and returning home, her peaceful mind began to be disturbed more and more by remembering the incident.

Her family considered her abnormal behavior to be a deity. In the village, she started doing fortune telling and consulting astrologers. Her wife sold her jewelry and offered 8 goats to the temple on the advice of astrologers and fortune tellers. But instead of getting better, the problem started to worsen. The cycle started to get worse. Whenever she met her wife and children, she started beating them to the point of death. She had to run away to save her children. ‘I was afraid that one day they would kill everyone, and this is what happened to her husband. When the people of the village said that the family was ruined, I wondered if one day I would also go crazy like this,’ she said.

Disease diagnosis, free treatment at the camp 
While Dhanakala was worried about her and her children's lives on the one hand and suffering from the humiliation of society on the other, two and a half years ago, someone told her about a camp for treating mental health problems in the rural municipality . Seeking the help of relatives, she took Chakra to the camp . After the doctor diagnosed the problem, she started receiving treatment at the local Parakatne health post . After regular consultation and treatment, Chakra gradually started to return to normal . ‘I have been taking medicine for two and a half years . Now there is no problem,’ Chakra said, ‘I can do everything like before.’ 

After she recovered, the turbulent atmosphere at home has become romantic . After the local NGO Dalit Sahayog Samaj donated a goat, Chakra is now enjoying goat farming . He said that he is thinking of increasing the number of goats and starting a commercial goat farm instead of going to India, saying, "Now the household expenses are running out. I am thinking of adding a few goats and starting this business." He said that he has started advising and facilitating people and families with mental problems like himself to seek treatment.

In Bajhang, there is a wrong practice of society and family looking down on, addressing, teasing, and boycotting those with mental health problems. Due to the superstition that if the gods are disturbed, mental balance will deteriorate, if treatment is not given, the problem becomes more complicated and people with serious mental illnesses are found in every village. However, Thalara Rural Municipality has been conducting camps every year and has been providing free treatment to people with such problems. Rural Municipality Chairman Prakash Rokaya says that the local government has been conducting camps every year to fulfill its obligation to provide free health facilities to the citizens as per the constitutional provisions. We have been providing mental health treatment to the residents of the municipality to make them feel like they are the government and the people's representatives,' he said.

57-year-old Bira Okheda of Thalara-5 Kotfera says that such a service from the municipality has given her life back. She was sleeping with her granddaughter in her arms during the 2080 Asoj earthquake. Suddenly the earth shook. The house collapsed. Seeing that scene, she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she had minor injuries. But after not seeing her little granddaughter nearby, she became very worried. While her granddaughter was rescued safely. ‘From that day on, I started to get angry whenever I thought about it,’ she said, ‘I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, I didn’t feel like sleeping, I didn’t feel like eating, I started getting angry even when I saw someone. Later, I stopped even knowing what they were saying.’

Even after performing puja at many places on the advice of Dhamijhaki, instead of getting better, her problems started getting worse. She also started to feel different in the way people behaved in her neighborhood. One day, she met Saraswati Joshi, a health worker from the rural municipality. That meeting helped her get back to normal. After receiving treatment at the local Kotbhairav ​​health post on Joshi’s advice, she is now back to normal. ‘I felt like getting up at night and going to jump. If I hadn’t met her, I would have died by now,’ she said.

Mental problems that were more common in urban areas until a few years ago have been increasing in rural areas in recent years, say those working in this field. ‘The lack of employment and other disasters such as earthquakes have caused mental problems for people in rural areas,’ says Ramlal Shrestha, executive director of the Mental Health and Counseling Center Nepal. ‘Earlier, there was a tradition of having joint families in villages, where everyone lived together and helped each other. That is gradually breaking down. Our experience shows that even when families are broken up, people experience loneliness, depression and even serious mental problems.’

Many people with mental problems like Chakra and Vira in Thalara have been rehabilitated in society after receiving treatment and psychosocial counseling services at the nearest health post. ‘Once you buy medicine, you have to spend 5-6 thousand.’ Since medicines are free here, even those with low incomes do not have a problem in getting treatment,' said Gauri Shankar Joshi, in-charge of Parakatne Health Post, 'We have been providing both psychological counseling and medicines based on the needs of the patients.' He said that 38 types of medicines related to mental illnesses are being distributed free of charge from various health institutions in the municipality. He said that patients from neighboring municipalities are also coming to Thalara due to this facility.

Bisna Bam, project coordinator of Dalit Sahayog Samaj, an organization that has been supporting the municipality's mental health program through social mobilization, said that problems such as anxiety, depression, serious mental problems, schizophrenia, and conversion disorder are prevalent among the locals. 'In Bajhang, when people have mental problems, they initially hide the problem out of fear of being ostracized by society and then resort to blasphemy as it escalates,' she said, 'but in the case of Thalara Rural Municipality, this superstition has been broken.' People have started coming for treatment openly.' She said that since many people across the district are suffering from mental problems, many will be saved if other municipalities also prioritize mental health.