Dr Sohom Das is a mental health expert and a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist who assesses and rehabilitates mentally ill offenders in criminal courts and prisons. He has worked in psychiatry for over 15 years in a variety of settings and also writes short stories, mostly humorous and surreal genres.
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in Forensic Psychiatry?
After medical school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I got drawn to psychiatry because I was interested in hearing people’s back stories. In other fields of medicine like surgery, you don’t get to know the patients personally like their lives, upbringings and families. So that’s what got me into psychiatry!
2. What is it like working as a Forensic Psychiatrist, and what do you love the most about your job?
It varies, sometimes it can be a bit of a routine and a bit dull because you see the same cases over and over again but then once in a while you get a fascinating case with very serious events, for example, a murder case, sexual assault or child sex crimes. But really disturbing cases tend to be more interesting. So I do a lot of different things like I go to courts sometimes and write reports and visit people in prisons as well.
3. Your job can be extremely stressful! How do you manage your own mental wellness?
I do a few things outside of work, and I keep changing them every once in a while too. I also exercise every day and spend time with my wife and two young sons. I have different creative outlets like I regularly write short stories and publish them. I’m also starting a novel, which I’m currently in the middle of writing.
4. What are the biggest difficulties you have faced in your career so far, and how have you overcome these?
One of the most difficult situations that I have faced is a patient committing suicide. I was a junior doctor at the time, and a middle-aged woman who had a family herself just got a lot worse really quickly. It couldn’t have been predicted, but she killed herself in the ward while I was there, so I had to phone her husband and tell him which was so difficult. And generally some of the patients can be quite aggressive and violent. In terms of overcoming it, I think I’m quite good at having boundaries between what is work and what is life, so I very rarely think about my work outside of my working day.
5. It is known that in BAME communities, mental illnesses are not as recognised or spoken about. Why do you think this is, and do you feel like this issue is getting better?
There is already a stigma with mental health for most people, but I think it’s more apparent in specific communities, for example, the female Asians. In their communities, they’re seen as potential marriage material, so if anybody has issues with their mental health, it’s seen to decrease their value, so instead, it is hidden or dismissed. Another reason is that there are different beliefs about what causes mental illnesses. For example, some African and Asian communities believe in black magic opposed to illnesses, so it’s dealt with using alternative medicines which don’t work. And the longer somebody stays untreated, the worse they get.
6. In your opinion, do you think there is a significant over-representation of BAME people within secure psychiatric units for offenders and why do you think this is?
Absolutely I do, 23% of all admissions in the country for general mental health units come from BAME backgrounds. The reasons for this is because of all of the things I spoke about before, so the stigma. Also, in some ethnic backgrounds, African and black communities, especially, they are over-represented in terms of the criminal justice system, for example, being arrested or ending up in prison. I think all of these have significant overlaps as people that end up in prisons are seen to then eventually end up in these wards. It’s a combination of all of those factors.
7. You have published several successful short stories and are currently working on your debut novel, what can readers expect from this novel?
My novel is going to be set from the perspective of a young woman in a female psychiatric unit for offenders. She is really unwell and psychotic, so she kills her sister but doesn’t understand what she has done. She also hears voices and has delusions. So it’s just about her journey over a few years as she gets better and comes to terms with what has happened. It’s only a few months away from being finished, but then I have to start the long journey of trying to get it published.
Navkiran Bains
