Ananya Biswas, an academic, says she is a little pissed off at how much airtime depression and anxiety get, especially among the elite. “But the moment you say you have delusions or hallucinations, people get scared.” she says
“You become an object to be managed, somehow,” says the 38-year-old. Biswas is among the 3.4mn Indians living with schizophrenia and the nearly 200 million Indians with mental health disorders (Global Burden of Disease Study, 2019)
She tells us how she overdoes things in her productive time. This is so she can explain away episodes of psychosis and the ‘mysterious’ chunks of time in her CV when she was unemployed, or employed but just doing the basics
For people with schizophrenia, to pursue employment and be financially stable provides autonomy that is vital for self-esteem, recovery from symptoms and living independently in the community