Exclusive: Indrani Battled Depression For More Than a Decade

This explains the real reason why Indrani was knocked unconscious for more than a day on Oct 2nd

Here’s putting an end to all the speculation behind Indrani’s mysterious condition which hospitalised her on Oct 2nd (Photo: Facebook/Indrani Mukerjea)

Indrani Mukherjea had an ongoing battle with depression and anxiety from 2006 and was on and off medication to avoid triggers.

The Quint has also learnt from an authoritative, reliable source who was a part of the treatment team, that back in 2006, Mikhail Bora was admitted in the de-addiction facility of Mumbai’s Masina hospital after a serious episode of cannabis-induced psychosis. At that time, Indrani herself sought psychiatric counselling from one of Mumbai’s top therapist’s for “depression and anxiety” and was also put on anti-anxiety pills and relaxants.

Though Indrani was not diagnosed with any personality disorder, she was treated for recurring depression by the same psychiatrist, till the launch of NewsX in the first quarter of 2008. Indrani was the CEO of 9X and the channel created news even before its launch over issues of repeated “inordinate and avoidable” delays and the rumours of its Chief Executive quitting.

Obviously it was a taxing situation for the Mukherjeas and our source in Masina hospital tells us that Indrani was “excessively worked up and would get these outbursts even after being on medication.”

So now the investigating officers have also come to the conclusion that there was no drug overdose or poisoning in the October 2nd episode when Indrani was rushed to JJ hospital in a state of unconsciousness. The bizarre events which unfurled, the theories, the tests, the reports and the contradictory reports would have made for a fantastic fiction novel.

So what explains the hospitalisation?

Indrani: A Patient of Recurring Depression

Contrary to popular belief, even mild depression episodes in the past can trigger serious bouts of depression later in life (Photo: Facebook/Indrani Mukerjea)

The prison environment, handcuffs and incarceration, barbaric living conditions, confinement, the fear of chargesheet, can take a toll on the cognitive ability of even the most healthy and stable inmates.

There are no nationwide figures available, but every year at least two inmates commit suicide in Tihar Jail because of depression and hopelessness. These are official figures, the actual numbers might be much higher.

For Indrani, who had fought and come out of depression (at least) once, it was only a matter of time that the hopelessness of detention grew on her. It was also reported that she lost weight, couldn’t sleep and was on sleeping and anti-anxiety pills to calm herself.

Medically it is a known fact that people who have depression once (which The Quint confirms, Indrani was on medication from 2006 to 2008), the chances of relapse increase by 50 to 70% in a stressful situation. After three streaks of depression or clinical anxiety, the chances of recurrence shoot up to 100% as patients become more “sensitive” to stress and life events.

Detention can seriously affect some people. A lot of inmates suffer from memory decay. At the extreme, prisoners can even undergo a complete breakdown.
– Dr Paresh Tripathi, Psychologist, Mumbai

So Why Did the Initial Reports Say Drug Overdose?

The contradictory reports raised a question mark over the reasons behind Indrani’s illness. (Photo: iStock)

Indrani was unconscious for over 18 hours. What drove the media into a tizzy was the fact that Hinduja hospital with one of Mumbai’s top NABL accredited laboratories found 10 times the level of drugs in Indrani’s body while the state-run Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Kalina ruled out any possibility of an overdose.

The twist was because Hinduja hopital carried out the basic screening test, immunoassays and not the confirmatory analysis (GC-MS) test which the FSL Kalina did.

If it’s confusing, here’s the gist: Hinduja hospital tests are simple screening tests done to quickly get a report so that the doctor can start treatment. This is done by an outdated methodology and therefore can give “false positives” many times.

To understand more about the contradictory test results, read this.

Clearly, if it wasn’t drug over dose, the sheer weakness, exhaustion of being in barracks, depression and the news of her mother passing away knocked Indrani unconscious for almost a day.

Related Read: If It Wasn’t a Drug Overdose, What Made Indrani So Sick?