The first few drops of rain, who on earth will not get euphoric with the cloudy sky and breeze which just touches your skin and soul nonchalantly. The day just looks fine and seems productive. But it’s not the case for the 28-year-old young, bold and passionate school teacher Meeta, who is just not able to come out from the bed. She is feeling tired and hopeless all day. Just couldn’t see the finite reason but extreme anxiety is surrounding her. She is seeing her weight reducing bit by bit but does not feel hungry at all. Her sleep is enormously troubled and sometimes she couldn’t sleep at all and couldn’t wake up other time. She wakes up with a train of thoughts which are taking her nowhere on this planet. It’s not the case that she has troublesome relationships with the people in the office but these days anything is making her irritated and ready to fight. These arguments with the colleagues and family do not feed her empty space in the heart but just another step en route for the drained mind. She finds it useless when people fill her with the solace testimonials such as ‘don’t worry’, why are you thinking in that way? Or everything will be alright. Somewhere her heart distinguishes the pain and the severity. She was not like this when she has travelled out for this profession of a teacher.

The true tale of Meeta is no surprise for today’s world. Millions of people are living outside and away from home in quest of the advance carrier or study or something else. These ‘being away’ opportunities do not always come with a rainy breeze but appear with plenty of downbeat emotions and living conditions.

Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists entitle these warning signs as a starting point of clinical depression. The primary symptoms are low mood throughout the day, tiredness, difficulty in sleep, feeling crying, and poor appetite, feeling that nothing is good in life, nobody is there for help and an individual might feel worthless in him/her. Generally, depression starts with or without any reason. Loss of someone, loss of job, break up in relationships, dealing with the abusive family member or issues related to cheating. A limitless reason might or might not be present but the manifestation is almost the same.

Depression is not general sadness.

Though it looks similar and in layman’s tongue, we change these terms interchangeably but in reality, it’s not the same case. Human mind gives you almost seventy thousands of thoughts in a day (Someone has really dedicated himself in counting them). And this mind wondering tendency takes you to the unpleasant and unhappy state 47 per cent of the time. Depression is more omnipresent and steady in itself. You might feel that the future is filled with dark nights and with zero hope of life. You might develop the unending guilt for no reason or for some past events. Life just looks dark and scary.

What to do?

Talk to someone. That’s it, but…. I would say this ‘BUT’ in the capital because that ‘someone’ should be a professional of mental wellness. There is nothing wrong in having a conversation with the loved ones or the relatives but the answer we get are very generic like a short term headache medicine which gives relief but does not cure it. A clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist might be a better choice because firstly they do not make judgments about your life and you, and secondly, they know the nature of depression. of course, you can get fearful before going to psychiatrists because ‘only crazy people go to a psychiatrist’ or ‘will power can do anything’ or a friend of yours can become a self-declared doctor of brain who can take care of you and your problem. Blah blah blah….. But ultimately someone needs attention to the problem and a psychologist is the best place to go.

Are these pills addictive?

If you start taking them, you have to take them for life. These sorts of statements are not very unusual from my patients. Because before visiting me they have actually taken cashless consultation with friends, relatives, neighbours, random strangers, Google, Wikipedia, YouTube videos and so many others. But the reality is far away from these universal truths. We are living in the era of a boom in medical technology and pharmaceuticals and these are sufficient enough to take care of the body. A brain is part of the body and not an alien agency. Medications are an absolutely safe and wonderful first-line treatment for this problem (YES I am advocating the medication despite being a psychologists).

Why do we need to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist?

They have spent half of their life in just studying about the treatment of depression and other similar stuff. They do not ask you that why do you behave like that? They do not feel that you are making the symptoms. They do not consider you as a negative human being. They do not give random advice to you from any motivational book. They do not consider it ‘Bhagwan ki Marji’. Just like these, I have thousands of reasons for campaigning for a psychologist. Therapy is something which is based on thousands of researches and people found them beneficial for their life. Millions of people came out of their gloomy periods of life and thinking. It’s good to visit a psychologist if you feel that things are not working out.

Can’t just God help me?

He can but he won’t come directly to help you. So he has some mediators or the ways to help you. Believe on him and yourself, assemble the courage and visit a professional. Some help is required.