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Why do we refuse to accept mental illness so vehemently? Ignoring your friend's mental illness does not make it go away.
Friends, family, acquaintances, medical professionals included refuse to acknowledge the existence of mental illnesses. It some times creates self-doubt. One, at least I, just cannot respond with an ‘Hmm…’ or reply with the longish details to prove them wrong. What does one do then?
How often have you heard?
“It’s all in your head”
Umm… of course it is all in my head – that is where the brain is and that is where serotonin is secreted and that is where the fault is. So yes, I know it’s all in my head. It is you who doesn’t know that “it’s all in my head”. In case you are thinking that I enjoy feeling listless, think about SOMEDAY when you felt listless, try to relive that feeling – all you wanted to do was get out of that feeling, all you wanted is to feel better. So do we.
“These medications are harmful and addictive and good for nothing.”
Has a medical practitioner ever said these words to you? I have heard them at least a couple of dozen times. What do you say to a medical practitioner who you believe would know better than you? Off late I have started giving a rather cut and dry reply – “I know what the medication can and cannot do. They have helped me stay sane for years. So if your treatment could work around the fact that I am on medication let’s do it.” I sometimes wonder what makes these qualifies professionals make comments on other kinds of treatments. Can I tell you how many people have told me YOUR treatment is good for nothing? Everyone believes their own dose of medication
“You need to relax.”
I want to.
“You are stronger that you think”
So if I punch you right now will it hurt you?
“Everyone had difficulties is life, we all face it.”
Ok, so why isn’t everyone on medication? Do you think we should run a campaign on how everyone is depressed and needs medical help?
“God did not create depression it is man-made.”
So is traffic on the roads. God didn’t create traffic on the road, so why is the frustration and fatigue caused due to driving back from work due to traffic considered normal?
Primal beings did not have the depression. While there is no proof of this, even if we were to believe it their needs were different, so were their ways and means for meeting the needs.
I partly believe mental illnesses are a 1st world phenomenon, just like cancer and aids. The people who suffer are not making up stories. So if you know someone who suffers from a mental illness please be there for them, just like you would be there for someone with accepted serious illnesses. Mental illness deserves acceptance, acknowledgement, love and support.
If this makes any sense, call someone you know who suffers from a mental illness TODAY and let them know you love them.
It’s all in their head remember. You call will help serotonin secretion and you would have made their day less listless, given the drugs some help and made them want to work a little harder at the listlessness.
The power of stories to inspire change made me turn into a storyteller. I write on 2 topics that need a very clear shift in attitude – ‘Being single in India’ & ‘Stigma attached to mental read more...
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He said that he needed sometime to himself. I waited for him as any other woman would have done, and I gave him his space, I didn't want to be the clingy one.
Trigger Warning: This deals with mental trauma and depression, and may be triggering for survivors.
I am someone who believes in honesty and trust, I trust people easily and I think most of the times this habit of mine turns into bane.
This is a story of how a matrimonial website service turned into a nightmare for me, already traumatized by the two relationships I’ve had. It’s a story for every woman who lives her life on the principles of honesty and trust.
And when she enters the bedroom, she sees her husband's towel lying on the bed, his underwear thrown about in their bathroom. She rolls her eyes, sighs and picks it up to put in the laundry bag.
Vasudha, age 28 – is an excellent dancer, writer, podcaster and a mandala artist. She is talented young woman, a go getter and wouldn’t bat an eyelid if she had to try anything new. She would go head on with it. Everyone knew Vasudha as this cheerful and pretty young lady.
Except when marriage changed everything she knew. Since she was always outdoors, whether for office or for travelling for her dance shows, Vasudha didn’t know how to cook well.
Going by her in-laws definition of cooking – she had to know how to cook any dishes they mentioned. Till then Vasudha didn’t know that learning to cook was similar to getting an educational qualification. As soon as she entered the household after her engagement, nobody was interested what she excelled at, everybody wanted to know – what dishes she knew how to cook.