'Out of Madness' A journey through grief madness and the human condition

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) A new book explores the human mind, love, loss, and the fragility of sanity to examine the complexity of mental health, emotional distress and societal expectations.
    Rithwik Aryan quit the Harvard Extension School, Harvard University, within three months of starting his bachelor's degree in psychology to pursue a career in writing.
    It took him five years to craft his debut novel "Out of Madness" during which he spent one-and-a-half years inside two mental asylums -- Central Institute of Psychiatry and Agra Mental Asylum -- to better understand the nature of human suffering and healing.
    Aryan says "Out of Madness" wasn't a conscious decision but more of a pull from an internal question that demanded an answer.
    "What if there's a couple - the ideal husband and wife, the power couple the society adores - who are inseparable, their love eternal? And then what happens when one of them dies? Will the other find love again, and how long would it take?"
    This seemingly simple question became the foundation for a six-year journey of writing, research, and self-discovery.
    Interestingly, Aryan was just 17 when he first began this exploration. He says that, at the time, his understanding of love and loss was still maturing. Over the years, his initial youthful curiosity about grief and emotional recovery evolved into a much more profound investigation.
    The book's complexity - filled with intricate characters, unexpected twists, and deep philosophical undertones - mirrors Aryan's own growth as a person and as a writer.
    One of the striking elements of "Out of Madness" is its portrayal of mental health.
    "Van Gogh, mental asylums, gangsters, and actresses," he recalls as the focal points of his research. His firsthand experiences were indispensable in capturing the nuances of psychological disorders and their effects on individuals.
    As a child, Aryan struggled with various mental health issues himself, including ADHD, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. The years spent navigating psychiatric clinics and undergoing therapy marked a difficult, dark period in his life. Yet, he describes this experience as a necessary foundation for his writing.
    "What began from there was a period of very dark and solitary years," he says, reflecting on how his own struggles with mental illness informed his narrative.
    During his time in the asylums, he encountered a wide array of individuals suffering from severe psychological conditions, from serial killers to people who had axed their families without memory of the event. These encounters deeply impacted him and further shaped the characters in "Out of Madness".
    Aryan also delves into a critical and often overlooked topic: the mental health of men.
    Society has long taught men that to be "strong" means to suppress their emotions, to bottle up distress, and to never show vulnerability. Aryan critiques this toxic masculinity, observing that men are often taught to suffer in silence. This societal conditioning, he argues, leads to disastrous consequences, including increased rates of suicide and emotional breakdowns.
    Aryan points to recent cases of male suicides as examples of how the system fails men.
    "We have not been able to devise a system where men can express and cry and laugh and love and feel freely," he laments.
    In his novel, the characters, particularly male ones, struggle with the expectations placed on them, facing emotional turmoil while attempting to maintain a stoic, unaffected exterior. Their journeys through grief, love, and emotional distress offer readers a poignant look at how men, too, are victims of mental health stigmas.
    According to Aryan, the book offers more than just a story. It is a mirror that reflects the chaos and contradictions of human existence, he says.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)