Vasantham (Mediacorp’s Tamil & Hindi TV Channel) studios reached out to Promises Healthcare’s Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Jacob Rajesh, in the name of bringing greater mental health awareness to the Indian community in Singapore.
This episode of En Ullae touches on psychosis. This case study was about a man who had developed schizophrenia and became obsessed with the ‘spiritual safety’ of his partner. The building tension served to demonstrate the dangers of ignoring the symptoms of psychosis, which his partner was predisposed to do, in her untoward position as the long-suffering partner in a dangerously unstable relationship. Dr Rajesh characterised psychosis as rooted in an unshakeable belief in false delusions – people who suffer from the condition are often willfully blind to reason, which he cautions against trying to impose on them when the time is inclement.
Prem, the unfortunate man with all the symptoms of hallucinatory schizophrenia, began to cast an evermore imposing spectre in the relationship, causing much distress to Rani. His delusions began to take such a toll on their relationship, with even the good tidings of a baby in the oven twisted into a string of abortion by Rani, afraid that he would bring harm to her and any prospective child she would bequeath upon them – he professed to see the child as a harbinger of doom, as the embodiment of the devil. Midway through the episode, the viewer is treated to the appearance of two ambiguous personalities – a man and a woman, whose blue lanyard faintly conveyed some sense of authority. We are left uncertain as to their actual responsibilities – they are at times quizzical, unwilling to manifest the “good cop, bad cop” trope. No matter, it is not the point of the episode to further entangle the convoluted plotlines – they serve as plot devices which encourage Prem’s own narrative to unfold – to the end, he remains stolidly convinced that his stabbing of Rani had taken her to a better place, the expression on his face almost beatific at times.
Dr Rajesh, at this point, sees fit to caution the viewer against harshly attributing homicidal tendencies to persons with psychosis. He presents the statistic that even less than 15% of homicides are perpetrated by people mentally unsound. Noting the prevalence of drug use and antisocial tendencies that colour this 15%, he confidently steers the viewer away from making too quick a conclusion – it is in everyone’s best interest to step back and evaluate statistics grounded in good science, instead of leaping to the easy conclusion that Prem was beyond rehabilitation.
(Click on the link for a version with English subtitles. Remember to click on the ‘Settings’ button to reveal the English subtitle selection. https://www.mewatch.sg/en/series/en-ullae-s2/ep6/952940 )