Pradnya Gaonkar Rane
COOJ Mental health foundation is all set to host their first sports day on the occasion of World Schizophrenia Day, May 24, for the psychologically disabled clients in association with Chaitanya Rehabilitation Centre, Thivim.
Started in 2000 and registered in 2002, every year the foundation marks this day with an awareness programme to spread the message that people with schizophrenia can live a normal life.
“The main aim behind organizing the sports day is so that the people whom we work with that is the psychologically disabled, can have a good time. The secondary aim is that we want to create awareness that the people with psychological disability have abilities also. They can live a normal life as much of a life than anyone else,” says Dr Peter Castelinho, director and managing trustee of COOJ Mental health foundation, Bastora. The general message here is to remove the mental stigma that is associated with people having mental illness and also with those living with them.
A person with mental disability can have an intellectual disability owing to the IQ level or a functional disability. Functional disability could be due to diseases like schizophrenia and other chronic diseases. Mental retardation is a disability arising due to the intellectual. Intellectual disability is developmental whereas functional disability comes later on in life, explains Dr Peter.
“We had a cricket tournament in 2011 for our clients. But this year, clients will take part in eight different events like the lemon and spoon race, hurdle race, etc. The participants will be divided into four house groups to give it a competition feel. But there is no categorization in terms of age or the kind of disability. Anyone with psychological disability can take part. We want them to mix around with people of all age groups and with different psychological disabilities,” informs Neetha Mascarenhas, Rehabilitation coordinator at COOJ. Mascarenhas adding that they will conduct a training session with the participants to familiarise them with the concept of sports and the events.
Many of the clients who come to the centre are above 20 years of age. And Dr Castelinho states that the number of people coming forward to seek clinical counselling for mental illness is definitely increasing. He however reiterates that this is not an indicator that such illnesses are on the rise as there isn’t any statistical date available to track this.
“All types of issues are getting detected earlier because people are now coming in earlier. In Goa there is a huge shift and people are coming out of the stigma,” he says.
Many a times its not just the individuals with mental disability but also the people living with them who need the counseling. COOJ also conducts group therapies for the families to boost motivational levels.
