“Mental illness is like any other illness. Response to treatment should not be sidelined from the mainstream of medicine. If treatment is not given properly, relapses occur. About 20 percent recover well fully. Even with them one can work on their residual ability and tap their resources to a constructive goal.
Dr. Mambalikalathil Sarada Menon born on 5 April 1923 was India’s first woman psychiatrist, social worker and the founder of Schizophrenia Research Research Foundation, (SCARF) a Chennai- based NGO working for the rehabilitation of people with mental disorders.
Youngest of eight children in a Malayali family from Mangalore, her father was a judge. Sarada graduated from Women’s Christian College and later did medicine from Madras Medical College in 1951 and her residency at the then Irwin Hospital, New Delhi before joining Madras Medical Service to start her career at Pittapuram Mission Hospital, Andhra Pradesh.
She simultaneously did her MD in 1957 after which she completed the Diploma in Psychiatric Medicine, making her the country’s first woman psychiatrist. In 1959, Sarada joined the Institute of Mental Health in Kilpauk as its first woman Superintendent in 1961 and superannuated in 1978.
During her tenure, the institution started department of psychiatry, began an out-patient facility and set up regional psychiatric centres at every district hospital in the State. She also introduced professional social workers to oversee patients and counsel their families. R’vive, a community cafe managed by people recovering from mental illness was also launched. In 1984, after retirement, Menon founded the NGO SCARF, which developed into a full-fledged research base and is one of the few Indian institutions recognised by the WHO (World Health Organisation) as a Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training.
It continues to be a premier NGO, offering treatment and rehabilitation for those with schizophrenia and mental illness and support for their caregivers. It provides temporary shelters and telepsychiatric therapy, runs vocational training centers and manages a mobile clinic. It also facilitates employment and conduct awareness campaigns and research project.
She changed it from an asylum into a place where volunteers and social workers were recruited and ensured there were psychiatric outpatient wards in government hospitals. SCARF received land and an annual grant from the State Government to construct its daycare centre and residential facilities. Stepping down in 1995, she remained an advisor.
She initiated participation of social organisations like the Chennai based AASHA, a community-based organisation and even transformed one of the rooms in her home into a shelter and later influenced the local chapter of YMCA to open three palliative care centres.
A strict disciplinarian, she was considerate and humble but also an administrator par excellence. She could diagnose just by talking to people for a few minutes. At a time, when mental health issues were scarcely acknowledged, she brought dignity to the mentally ill by spreading awareness and helped thousands of patients and shaped the careers of several psychiatrists.
Her primary motivation was the rehabilitation of the mentally ill, a neglected aspect. The other was a stigma. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992, the Best Employer Award from the Govt. of India, Best Doctor Award and the Avvaiyyar Award in 2016 from the Government of Tamil Nadu, For the Sake of Honour Award from the Rotary Club, Chennai, a Special Award of the International Association of Psycho-Social Rehabilitation, Boston, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of Madras Neuro Trust.
Sarada was also the vice-president of the Chennai chapter of the Red Cross Society, member of the Tamil Nadu government panel set up for proposing prison reforms and a part of the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (WFSAD).
She passed away in Chennai, aged 98, leaving a huge void for the medical fraternity, her patients and their families.