Earlier this month, the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) completed 40 years of dedicated service and treatment for persons with mental illness. In the 1980s, when it was a struggle to establish an exclusive centre to treat mental illnesses, Sarada Menon, India’s first woman psychiatrist, who retired from the Institute of Mental Health, Chennai, as its superintendent, wanted to start an organisation to rehabilitate recovered patients. This is the short story of how Scarf was born.
“Many people did not understand what schizophrenia was and were reluctant to be associated with us or donate for the cause,” recalled Scarf’s vice-chairman R. Thara.
“We did a community survey and found that such people had been locked up for seven to 10 years,” said C.K. Gariyali, a former bureaucrat, and another founding member.
“Prof. Sarada Menon was retiring, and we thought we cannot let go of her. My husband Rajkumar was Dr. Menon’s student and his student Thara pitched in. Dr. Sarada was a pioneer in psychiatry. We formed an NGO and registered it in 1984,” Ms. Gariyali said. Scarf functioned from a small flat in Nungambakkam with a donation of ₹1,000 from Dr. Thara to start a bank account.
Dr. Rajkumar and Dr. Thara were keen on research which helped to garner funds from research agencies such as Indian Council for Medical Research. “Scarf is, today, a solid research organisation with people from abroad being trained here,” Ms. Gariyali added.
Scarf expanded its community mental health initiatives as funds became available, being the pioneer in several segments of the care of persons with mental illness. It launched its mobile telepsychiatry unit to cater to persons with severe mental illness in rural areas who do not have access to care, either because of the lack of facilities or the stigma that prevented them from seeking help.
“Some of them had remained untreated for 10 to 15 years,” Dr. Thara said. Among Scarf’s many achievements is its central commitment to multiple things towards addressing stigma and improving access to treatment, including training self help group members, primary care doctors in dementia care, and taking messages to the public to remove stigma through the years. It organises film festivals on mental health and recognises journalists for their work in this area.
Kanniappan, a 56-year-old beneficiary from Mailai village in Chengalpattu district, says he feels indebted to Scarf. “I have been ill for 25 years, and I am on medication. I work as a load man and sell eatables. My neighbour takes me to the hospital or fetches my medicines,” he said.
Sunil (name changed on request) has been dependent on Scarf to take care of his brother, for nearly 30 years. He carries on his work as he is reassured that his brother is in safe hands. “I take my brother to the centre daily where he spends several hours. I pick him up after I finish my work,” he said.
There is much unfinished business, according to Scarf’s chairman R. Seshasayee. The agenda for the future is to mainstream those who have been cured.
“Psychosocial rehabilitation is an unfinished agenda,” he points out.
“The questions are: How do we take care of the children when parents pass away. If there are siblings caring for them, then what, after them?” The organisation had covered a whole spectrum - awareness, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation and research, making it a unique institution. Such important institutions required support “in terms of governance, and management and visioning and taking forward,” he said.
