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Why is it that we seek to avoid therapy for depression and want to hide it instead? Is avoiding the stigma worth your life?
Today’s stress induced life has given rise to many lifestyle diseases. However, the killer of them all is depression. If not detected and treated at the right time, it can lead to other mental illness or in extreme cases even suicide.
In recent times, the media has covered suicides of many well-known celebrities. However these are only the tip of the iceberg. If statistics are to be believed, there are 3 suicides in the city of Mumbai alone everyday.
These suicides affect the families left behind the most. They are forever haunted with the question, “Could we have done something differently?”
I have personally encountered several cases of depression among my near and dear ones.
The most baffling one was the story of my maid. Her husband committed suicide without any cause that she was aware of. She was in shock for more than a year, as she never suspected that something was wrong.
Post hearing his symptoms, I realised that he was a manic depressive. What she thought was an introverted nature, was actually his uncommunicative stance. At times, he would fly into uncontrollable rage. Most of all, he avoided going out – so much so that he lost his job. She never guessed how deep his anger was.
A relative of mine was also facing issues with her husband. He was undergoing massive stress due to his job. He refused to talk to her as he did not want to burden her with his problems, but they were becoming too much for him to handle alone, and it started showing up as physical symptoms of headache and backache. He also became absent minded and ended up hurting himself in an accident.
That was a wake-up call for them. They took professional help and now he has started his journey on the road to recovery.
The sad truth is that professional help or therapy is something which is looked down upon. If someone goes for counselling, it is thought that the person is suffering from insanity. Due to the stigma attached to it, a lot of people shy away from getting help. This causes the stress level to go up to dangerous levels.
Depression is a real disease, as real as cancer. Just like you cannot leave that disease to fester and grow, similarly you cannot ignore this disease either.
The only solution is to fight and win over it. If you realise that you need help, then half the battle is won. The other half is to ignore others’ views and get help. After all, it is not they who are going to suffer but you.
If you or anyone you know is feeling suicidal, here are some of the helplines available in India. Please call. Therapy for depression is also available now in most mid-sized and larger Indian cities.
Aasra, Mumbai: 022-27546669
Sneha, Chennai: 044-2464 0050
Lifeline, Kolkata: 033-2474 4704
Sahai, Bangalore: 080 – 25497777
Image source: pixabay
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I huffed, puffed and panted up the hill, taking many rest breaks along the way. My calf muscles pained, my heart protested, and my breathing became heavy at one stage.
“Let’s turn back,” my husband remarked. We stood at the foot of Shravanbelagola – one of the most revered Jain pilgrimage centres. “We will not climb the hill,” he continued.
My husband and I were vacationing in Karnataka. It was the month of May, and even at the early hour of 8 am in the morning, the sun scorched our backs. After visiting Bangalore and Mysore, we had made a planned stop at this holy site in the Southern part of the state en route to Hosur. Even while planning our vacation, my husband was very excited at the prospect of visiting this place and the 18 m high statue of Lord Gometeshwara, considered one of the world’s tallest free-standing monolithic statues.
What we hadn’t bargained for was there would be 1001 granite steps that needed to be climbed to have a close-up view of this colossal magic three thousand feet above sea level on a hilltop. It would be an understatement to term it as an arduous climb.
Every daughter, no matter how old, yearns to come home to her parents' place - ‘Home’ to us is where we were brought up with great care till marriage served us an eviction notice.
Every year Dugga comes home with her children and stays with her parents for ten days. These ten days are filled with fun and festivity. On the tenth day, everyone gathers to feed her sweets and bids her a teary-eyed adieu. ‘Dugga’ is no one but our Goddess Durga whose annual trip to Earth is scheduled in Autumn. She might be a Goddess to all. But to us, she is the next-door girl who returns home to stay with her parents.
When I was a child, I would cry on the day of Dashami (immersion) and ask Ma, “Why can’t she come again?” My mother would always smile back.
I mouthed the same dialogue as a 23-year-old, who was home for Durga Puja. This time, my mother graced me with a reply. “Durga is fortunate to come home at least once. But many have never been home after marriage.”
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