New Delhi: A 55-year-old man from Gurgaon did not interact with anyone for 15 years apart from the one day every month he stepped out of his house to withdraw money from the bank and pick up groceries. Due to delusions he claimed he was a U.S. intelligence agent and told some people he personally knew former president George Bush.

The patient of schizophrenia - a psychotic illness - frequently claimed he could control the world's nukes.

Help came his way only when his U.S.-based sister arrived in India and, with police help, took him to a counsellor who diagnosed him to be suffering from schizophrenia in which a person develops a split personality may not be able to distinguish his own thoughts and ideas from reality.

Psychiatrist Ruchi Sharma said most patients or their family members refused to believe that there was something wrong with the patient's brain. "Many people try to look for alternative therapies to cure their loved ones," she said.

In the Gurgaon patient's case, the counsellors "spent a lot of time and energy to get him back to normal. He is now living with his sister in the U.S.," Sharma said.

"Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms, including delusions - unusual beliefs not based on reality - and changes in behaviour," said counsellor Geeta Mehta.

According to a U.S. National Library of Medicine article, the prevalence of schizophrenia in India is about three per 1,000 individuals. It is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15-35 and men and women are equally affected.

Sharma said the Gurgaon man's sister was prompt in accepting the truth about his poor mental condition and did not waste time in seeking reconfirmation from other doctors and professionals.

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