Kolkata: June 30, 2008 - Doctors at Nimhans, Bangalore, said on Sunday that Shinjini Sengupta was stable though they were still not sure what she was suffering from. A statement issued from the institute said that test results would be available on Monday and those might help to diagnose her ailment.
Shinjini (16) slipped into depression after being rebuked by judges severely on a reality TV show on May 19. She gradually stopped talking and became paralysed. She was taken to Nimhans on Friday.
Her relatives in Kolkata were anxiously waiting for an update on her condition but couldn't contact her parents. "We have heard that her condition has improved slightly. Some tests have been done but the results are awaited. We have not been able to get in touch with doctors. Hopefully, a clearer picture will emerge by tomorrow," said Shinjini's uncle Shankar Ghosh.
Meanwhile, city doctors differed on the possible causes behind Shinjini's mystery illness. While psychiatrists claimed that the disease seems likely to have been triggered by a psychological setback, neurologists concluded that it had nothing to do with her depression.
The girl had been rebuked by judges at a reality show on a Bengali news channel a month back. Ever since, Shinjini slipped into a depression and now she can't move her limbs, speak or move about.
"She is suffering from dissociative disorder whose symptoms resemble a neurological ailment. But in this case, the trigger was definitely psychological. Shinjini has been under tremendous mental pressure for a prolonged period which led to her psychological breakdown.
Her mental state has reached a point where her brain is no longer functioning normally, affecting her physical movements. If she is given the right kind of psycho-therapy, her condition will improve," said psychiatrist Shiladitya Ray.
Neurologists, however, felt Shinjini's ailment had nothing to do with depression. The fact that she had the disease a month after being ejected from the show is coincidental. "It seems from the symptoms that she is suffering from ADEM or Acute Demyalenitating Encephalo Myelitis, a viral infection in the brain. It is a debilitating disease but not life-threatening," said neurologist Abhijit Chatterjee.
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