People suffering from mental illness face severe stigmas the world over.  In India, these stigmas can prevent the mentally ill from participating in everyday activities.  They often lose their rights to work, marry, and make basic decisions for themselves.  People with mental illnesses can be forced against their will into institutions where they can face solitary confinement. 

Laura Hodges is a medical student at the University of Chicago.  She spent last summer as a University of Chicago Human Rights intern at the Anjali Mental Health and Human Rights in Kolkata, India. 

Anjali provides therapy, rehab, and community reintegration to mental health patients in Kolkata.  They also advocate for the mentally ill and run mental health awareness campaigns in the region. 

Laura Hodges told me what mental health facilities exist in Kolkata.