Not all people who suffer from depression are aware of it. The signs start showing early, but people often misunderstand it as sadness or bad mood. It is important to understand the difference between being sad and being depressed. People suffering from depression like to be aloof, and don’t feel like doing anything or being with anyone. The regular day to day activities are also impacted. Everything from how a person behaves, feels or thinks also changes dramatically.
Center for Mental Health is termed as one of the best mental health centers in India by its clients. Positive feedback from our clients and their rewarding experiences at our center gives us confidence to assure our clients that they will get the best psychological services in Pune at our center. Our team consists of some of the best Clinical Psychologists in Pune, India who ensure that the clients receive the best possible care.
One summer afternoon in 2018, I found myself standing right in the middle of a traffic jam, unable to see anything because my eyes were flooded with tears. I had to drag my scooter to the side of the road, wipe my eyes and take a breather, before I could drive off. That was the point when the problem that I had been in denial of, blindsided me. All the nights spent muffling my cries into the pillow, sobbing the bathroom; which I had been ignoring, this one moment red-flagged them, and I knew there was something very wrong. I was not well and I needed help.
According to WHO, more than 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression. In 2018 the same organisation also revealed that India is the sixth most depressed country in the world. And yet, mental health issues remain a taboo in our society, often pushing people into suffering in silence or living in denial. While we see so much conversation online on these issues, offline, we look at them from a third person’s gaze. “It” is something that happens to others, not me, not my husband, not my friend. But “it” could happen to you and you need to recognise your mind’s cry for help. Would you ignore a stabbing pain in your guts? Or a tingle in your leg that won’t go away? Then why must you ignore signs of mental illness?
Seeking help wasn’t easy for me. The stigma around mental health issues meant I couldn’t open up about my depression. While I was in counselling though, I was able to reveal that to my husband and sister. But that is the extent of going “public” with my struggle. It took me around six months to tell my parents that I was in therapy. Perhaps I was afraid that they would internalise the “blame” for it, or they would worry till it had ill consequences on their health.
However, I realised that a big part of healing, at least for me, is to open up about the process. It is a part of coming to terms with your issues and taking back your agency from society. No one gets to tell me whether I should talk openly about my depression or not, whether I should take help or “endure” it lest I want to be an outcast. I get to make that choice and do it with pride that I put my wellness first.
When I walked into Ms Nupur’s therapy room for the first time, the first thing she asked me was, “How shall I help you?” And that was all it took for me to come to terms with how desperately I needed help, for someone to help me heal and feel better. Only when you manage to overcome stigma and fear, does one realise how we had had been putting ourselves through an ordeal that we didn’t need to. Healing is a gradual process, it takes time and energy. But above everything else, it needs resilience and persistence. So when you accept that you have a problem, and you are willing to take help for it, don’t feel ashamed. Be proud of yourselves, of your will to make things better, and of gaining back the control of your life.
Written by Yamini