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Abstract

y ran out. So, I looked up the most reputed shrink in my area and booked an appointment.There are too many misconceptions regarding psychiatric help. I want to use my experience with it to bust a few of them.<ul><li>You don’t have to be crazy to need it.</li><li>Medicines like anti-depressants can’t make you “happy”.</li><li>Professional help by itself won’t get you out of mental illness.</li><li>It’s not just “talking to someone”. It’s far deeper than that.</li></ul><h1 id="85cd">How Exactly Professional Help Helps One</h1>Professional Help helps you in 2 ways mainly -<ul><li>It helps you understand yourself, your life, and your problems better.</li><li>It gives you tools, techniques, and strategies to better deal with yourself, your life, and your problems.</li></ul>Whether it’s prescribed medication or speaking about things in therapy, the main idea here is to give you the tools to deal with things better. Professional Help enables you to help yourself.The sad truth is that it cannot by itself fix things for you. Your life won’t magically get better simply by doing a session or two. It’s actually a multitude of things that will get you out of Mental Illness. Here are the things that worked for me.<h1 id="281d">How I Overcame Mental Illness</h1>After my first consultation with the psychiatrist back in 2019, he had no doubt that I was clinically depressed. After he diagnosed me as so, this is what helped me slowly overcome the Depression.The following events unfolded over the span of 6 months or so. Most of them are things are which anyone can apply to their own quest of getting through Mental Illness.<ul><li>I did weekly sessions of Therapy. This helped me understand, accept, and slowly change the things that were making me depressed.</li><li>I took the anti-depressants that I was prescribed. Frankly, these just made me sleepy as hell. I didn’t really see a visible change in my mood or emotional state because of them. And I stopped taking them after 2 months. So, I wouldn’t recommend (or not recommend) this step.</li><li>I kept myself busy. This, I would definitely recommend. Your mind simply has lesser time and energy to think about what’s causing you pain when it’s busy thinking about other stuff like work. I am by no means promoting working to run away from your mental health. I’m saying that finding things to do helps when it’s combined with the other things on this list.</li><li>Having a sense of purpose helps too. In my case, since I’d dropped out of Co

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llege, doing internships not only gave me the much-needed dopamine boost of earning money at a young age but also gave my day a purpose. I also looked up, scouted, and visited different colleges to select a new one to join in the next academic year. These 2 things were my daily purpose back then.</li><li>I stayed away from toxic things. In my case, it was looking up my ex-girlfriend on Social Media, overeating, and living with my former flatmates whom I disliked. Simply distancing yourself from toxic things can work wonders for your Mental Health.</li><li>I traveled. I took a couple of trips with a few close friends. Seeing more of the world is also an excellent way of secreting positive chemicals in your brain. New experiences and new places can often spark joy at a time you need it the most.</li><li>I got into Fitness. Physical Health and Mental Health are interlinked. They almost always affect one another. I’d gained a lot of weight. That messed with my self-esteem, self-image, and self-confidence. Thus, the state of my Physical Health ruined my Mental Health even more. So, I started playing Sports again and lifting weights 2–3 times a week. In a year’s time, I’d lost the weight I’d gained relatively easily, without any strict diet or rigorous workout routine.</li></ul><h1 id="07a4">Takeaway</h1>When you’re mentally ill, you feel you’ll never get better. But if you seek help and put in effort outside the shrink’s office (like the things I mentioned above), things will slowly get better with time.Time and Effort are really all it takes. By “time”, I don’t mean 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year. There’s no rule of how long it takes someone to get over Mental Illness. It took me 6–9 months. But I know people who’ve taken several years.One thing is for certain, though, it’s not going to happen fast. Look, I get it. We all want things fast all the time these days. But Mental Health (and physical health) just isn’t like that.Good things do really take time. Different people take different amounts of time, but it’s certainly not going to take just a couple of sessions.Have some patience. Actually, scratch that. Have a lot of patience. There are going to be ups and downs. It’s not going to be a straight upward trajectory.Sometimes, you’ll feel you’re making no progress and you’re going backward, in fact. But just trust the process. Have faith that it’ll eventually get better, keep putting in the effort, and give it time.I wish you well.</article></body>

A Simple Approach To Mental Health Problems

Help+Effort+Time is the secret formula.

It was the beginning of a brand new year. Everyone around me was full of hope and optimism that the fresh start of a new year usually gives. But me? I was going through the darkest period of my life.

I wasn’t necessarily suicidal. I’d never do anything to myself. I didn’t want to kill myself. But I just didn’t want to live. I didn’t want to die. I simply didn’t want this life. I couldn’t take any more of this life.

The time that I’m talking about is the first week of January 2019. I’d just dropped out of college, had a terrible breakup, and moved back home to live with my parents.

My life was supremely messed up in all aspects. I’d just had my heart broken, lost all my close friends in the past year, and had wasted a year of my life in a university that I absolutely despised. Not to mention, I’d also gained 22 pounds of fat and taken to smoking cigarettes.

I’d spend my days crying and nights lying awake in the darkness, wishing I was dead.

I was by all measures — miserable, fat, and depressed.

Why am I telling you all this? To show you just how messed up I was. And subsequently, show you how I was still able to get out of this phase riddled with Mental Illness. If I could, you can too. I believe in you. Let me show you how.

Seeking Help is The Non-Negotiable First Step

Not asking for help to deal with mental illness is like falling into a pit and trying to get out of it with no ladder, no tools, and no external help.

I know how hard it can be to seek help. I know all the stigmas associated with it. Especially for men. But I also know that seeking professional help is the absolute best thing you can do for yourself. And refusing help? The worst.

Initially, I too resisted. My parents saw my daily misery and relentlessly pursued me to come with them and talk to a psychiatrist. One fine day, when the pain became too much, my resolve to keep saying no finally ran out. So, I looked up the most reputed shrink in my area and booked an appointment.

There are too many misconceptions regarding psychiatric help. I want to use my experience with it to bust a few of them.

You don’t have to be crazy to need it.
Medicines like anti-depressants can’t make you “happy”.
Professional help by itself won’t get you out of mental illness.
It’s not just “talking to someone”. It’s far deeper than that.

How Exactly Professional Help Helps One

Professional Help helps you in 2 ways mainly -

It helps you understand yourself, your life, and your problems better.
It gives you tools, techniques, and strategies to better deal with yourself, your life, and your problems.

Whether it’s prescribed medication or speaking about things in therapy, the main idea here is to give you the tools to deal with things better. Professional Help enables you to help yourself.

The sad truth is that it cannot by itself fix things for you. Your life won’t magically get better simply by doing a session or two. It’s actually a multitude of things that will get you out of Mental Illness. Here are the things that worked for me.

How I Overcame Mental Illness

After my first consultation with the psychiatrist back in 2019, he had no doubt that I was clinically depressed. After he diagnosed me as so, this is what helped me slowly overcome the Depression.

The following events unfolded over the span of 6 months or so. Most of them are things are which anyone can apply to their own quest of getting through Mental Illness.

I did weekly sessions of Therapy. This helped me understand, accept, and slowly change the things that were making me depressed.
I took the anti-depressants that I was prescribed. Frankly, these just made me sleepy as hell. I didn’t really see a visible change in my mood or emotional state because of them. And I stopped taking them after 2 months. So, I wouldn’t recommend (or not recommend) this step.
I kept myself busy. This, I would definitely recommend. Your mind simply has lesser time and energy to think about what’s causing you pain when it’s busy thinking about other stuff like work. I am by no means promoting working to run away from your mental health. I’m saying that finding things to do helps when it’s combined with the other things on this list.
Having a sense of purpose helps too. In my case, since I’d dropped out of College, doing internships not only gave me the much-needed dopamine boost of earning money at a young age but also gave my day a purpose. I also looked up, scouted, and visited different colleges to select a new one to join in the next academic year. These 2 things were my daily purpose back then.
I stayed away from toxic things. In my case, it was looking up my ex-girlfriend on Social Media, overeating, and living with my former flatmates whom I disliked. Simply distancing yourself from toxic things can work wonders for your Mental Health.
I traveled. I took a couple of trips with a few close friends. Seeing more of the world is also an excellent way of secreting positive chemicals in your brain. New experiences and new places can often spark joy at a time you need it the most.
I got into Fitness. Physical Health and Mental Health are interlinked. They almost always affect one another. I’d gained a lot of weight. That messed with my self-esteem, self-image, and self-confidence. Thus, the state of my Physical Health ruined my Mental Health even more. So, I started playing Sports again and lifting weights 2–3 times a week. In a year’s time, I’d lost the weight I’d gained relatively easily, without any strict diet or rigorous workout routine.

Takeaway

When you’re mentally ill, you feel you’ll never get better. But if you seek help and put in effort outside the shrink’s office (like the things I mentioned above), things will slowly get better with time.

Time and Effort are really all it takes. By “time”, I don’t mean 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year. There’s no rule of how long it takes someone to get over Mental Illness. It took me 6–9 months. But I know people who’ve taken several years.

One thing is for certain, though, it’s not going to happen fast. Look, I get it. We all want things fast all the time these days. But Mental Health (and physical health) just isn’t like that.

Good things do really take time. Different people take different amounts of time, but it’s certainly not going to take just a couple of sessions.

Have some patience. Actually, scratch that. Have a lot of patience. There are going to be ups and downs. It’s not going to be a straight upward trajectory.

Sometimes, you’ll feel you’re making no progress and you’re going backward, in fact. But just trust the process. Have faith that it’ll eventually get better, keep putting in the effort, and give it time.

I wish you well.