Suicidal tendencies linger, all 3 survivors under depression: Psychoanalytical study
Times of India | 24 February 2025
123 Kolkata: The three surviving members of the Dey family, including the 14-year-old, do not show a will to live. During psychoanalysis, as part of treatment at Ruby General Hospital, doctors found that all want to die, remain clinically depressed, and are likely to be prone to suicide bids in the future unless cured.
All three — brothers Pranay, Prasun, and Pranay's son Pratip — were rushed by police to the hospital on EM Bypass early on Wednesday. While all escaped miraculously with no life-threatening injuries and are recovering, all have been found to be under severe depression during the assessment of their mental health.
"Experts have analysed the trio's mental health status, and the impression is that all of them still have the death wish. That is the reason why we have been taking all strategic risk management measures to thwart suicidal attempts by any of them," said a source in the hospital.
Doctors treating the trio have been noticing the uneasy calm and composed attitude in all three, including the teenager. All three keep their eyes shut apart from answering health-related questions or to the cops.
"This kind of complete detachment and calmness could be read as a lull before another storm. They could be in a state of emotional numbness for now. There is a high chance of people who survived a suicide attempt repeating such an attempt," said Sanjay Garg, a mental health and behavioural sciences specialist at Fortis Hospital Anandapur.
Pranay, the elder of the brothers, was shifted to NRS Medical College by cops on Saturday night, while younger brother Prasun and Pratip are expected to be discharged from the hospital on Monday.
"The patient who was shifted to our facility on Saturday night is admitted to the ward and is under conservative treatment. Our mental health team is also considering an analysis of his mental condition and will offer treatment accordingly," said Pit Baran Chakraborty, principal of NRS Medical College.
Mental health specialist Pradip Saha, former director of the Institute of Psychiatry, IPGMER, said depression can be infectious, especially in a closely-knit family due to a catalysing factor which could be financial loss, personal loss, and family honour, among others.
"The intensity of shared psychosis and depression can be so high, especially in a closely-knit family, that even if a drastic step like a suicide pact is planned by one or two, the rest get easily influenced. If it was really a suicide pact, those who failed in the first attempt are likely to attempt it again," said Saha, who is now the director at the Medical Institute of Psychiatry, Kolkata.
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