This 17-year-old Bengal boy must bleed to sleep
Rajib Das from Naihati, a town near Kolkata, suffers from a rare epilepsy syndrome since age 3.
A seventeen-year-old boy from Naihati, a town near Kolkata, suffers from a rare syndrome known as startle epilepsy, which does not let him sleep until he bleeds. Rajib Das (pictured) has had this syndrome since the age of 3, and his father has been running from pillar to post to treat his son.
“When he feels sleepy, he must hit his head on the bed or some other furniture,” said Ranjit Das, Rajib’s father. “He cannot sleep until he bleeds. We are very anxious about my son’s wellbeing since his childhood.”
“No one could detect the reason until I visited the Institute of Psychiatry in Kolkata,” said Das.
Pradip Saha, director of the institute, said: “Rajib is suffering from a rare type of epilepsy known as startle epilepsy. It is a rarest of rare syndrome. It is generally not found in India. One in 1,100 people are diagnosed with this syndrome.”
In startle epilepsy, there can be many factors that act as a catalyst, like smells and sounds. “In Rajib’s case, blood is the catalyst,” Das said. “Rajib has grown up to be an angry and adamant teenager. If anything goes wrong, he will bang his head and start bleeding. But after the medication and treatment here at the institute, his condition has improved. It is a torture to see him suffer from such a syndrome since childhood. Otherwise, he is a normal boy throughout the day.”
A seventeen-year-old boy from Naihati, a town near Kolkata, suffers from a rare syndrome known as startle epilepsy, which does not let him sleep until he bleeds. Rajib Das (pictured) has had this syndrome since the age of 3, and his father has been running from pillar to post to treat his son.
“When he feels sleepy, he must hit his head on the bed or some other furniture,” said Ranjit Das, Rajib’s father. “He cannot sleep until he bleeds. We are very anxious about my son’s wellbeing since his childhood.”
Local hospitals and doctors were clueless about Rajib’s ailment.
“No one could detect the reason until I visited the Institute of Psychiatry in Kolkata,” said Das.
Pradip Saha, director of the institute, said: “Rajib is suffering from a rare type of epilepsy known as startle epilepsy. It is a rarest of rare syndrome. It is generally not found in India. One in 1,100 people are diagnosed with this syndrome.”
In startle epilepsy, there can be many factors that act as a catalyst, like smells and sounds. “In Rajib’s case, blood is the catalyst,” Das said. “Rajib has grown up to be an angry and adamant teenager. If anything goes wrong, he will bang his head and start bleeding. But after the medication and treatment here at the institute, his condition has improved. It is a torture to see him suffer from such a syndrome since childhood. Otherwise, he is a normal boy throughout the day.”
