SILCHANG, India (Reuters) – More than half-a-century Lalung’s confinement for 54 years has shocked rights activists and mental Fifty-four years with psychiatric patients has dulled his senses, made "I feel sad at what happened to my life but there is no use grumbling "Initially, I used to miss my family and always begged my wardens Along with Premature After "It was very difficult to stay with insane people in the same room We think the same thing every day.<\/em><\/p>\n Today, despite his poor health, Lalung likes to work in a small vegetable Although there were many women in the hospital, Lalung never tried to "Who would want to marry an insane woman?" he asks.<\/p>\n Can we plead<\/em> temporary insanity<\/em>?<\/p>\n from Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes we come across a story that resonates with us in a special way. There, we think, but for the grace of God, go we. And sometimes we see our own life, reflected in the misfortunes of others… SILCHANG, India … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/kzwakbed.jpg\")
Sometimes we come across a story
\n that resonates with us in a special way. There, we think, but
\n for the grace of God, go we. And sometimes we see our own life, reflected
\n in the misfortunes of others…<\/em><\/p>\n
\n ago, Machal Lalung was thought to be insane and sent to a mental asylum
\n in India’s remote northeast. A few months ago, he was set free after
\n the National Human Rights Commission found that healthcare authorities
\n had
\n made a mistake and Lalung suffered
\n only from epilepsy.<\/p>\n
\n health experts in a country where it is not uncommon for people to be
\n branded insane and locked up in homes or asylums for months, if not a
\n few years.<\/p>\n
\n him forget his family, his tribal dialect and even the taste of the food
\n he liked. His life before entering the asylum is nothing but a blip in
\n his memory. So is the story of how and who brought him to the mental
\n home. Doctors
\n who treated Lalung have retired and records about him are missing.<\/p>\n
\n now. I am just waiting for death," he told Reuters at his nephew’s
\n home in Silchang village, about 55 miles east of Assam’s main city of
\n Guwahati.<\/p>\n
\n to send me home. But they never listened to me," he said with tears
\n in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\n Burial<\/a>, being trapped in an insane asylum where
\n nobody believes you are sane is one of our ultimate nightmares. For this reason we have assiduously avoided all forms of mental health care our entire life, first instinctively, and after majoring in the matter at Harvard from a profound and disquieting understanding of the present state of mental health care. We knew if they got their craws on us, we would never again see the light of day.<\/p>\n
\n all, sanity is a culturally-defined, subjective and relative categorization.
\n In the Peruvian Amazon, among the Kaxinawa Indians, you would all be
\n considered insane, and you don’t even want to know what constitutes mental health treatment in that warrior culture.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n but gradually I got used to it," Lalung said.<\/p>\n
\n garden outside the house, carrying a spade and a pouch containing a tobacco
\n and betel nut snack to chew.
\n
\n Nothing like a good betel nut buzz.
\n <\/em><\/p>\n
\n make friends with them or consider marriage.<\/p>\n