Love is Key

  •   Thu, Aug 27 2020
  •   By Harita Pinto

Aug 27, 2020

‘…”I don’t have the luxury of being depressed”, says Salman Khan’, reading the headline on a news item. Of course bhai is there solely to give others depression! Oh wait, that’s his driver’s job. Jokes apart, depression is nothing to joke about. Or any other illness for that matter.

Many a debate around depression exists today, more than ever, given the circumstances in the world. People treat depression like an abnormality. It is not. It is like any other illness. When one gets a flu, do the others question the person’s sanity? Of course not. Depression like any other illness must be treated the same way. Depression patients are looked at like they are psychopaths or serial killers. They are definitely not. Mental health has a lot of stigma around it, more so in India. People resort to all kinds of tantra-mantra, ‘jhaad-phook’ even to cure depression. All this is due to sheer ignorance and lack of education.

Our body is a marvellous creation by the creator, but it has its maintenance issues. Depression may be characterized by a sense of loneliness, sadness, emptiness and despair. All these emotions exist in every human being to a certain extent. But when the degree of these emotions starts taking a toll on a person, they have some physiological manifestations. So depression is a disease with actual physical symptoms that require medication. People diagnosed with clinical depression have symptoms like sleeplessness or too much sleep (no, our teenagers are not depressed-they just sleep a lot!), problems with digestion, pain in parts of the body for no apparent reason, breathlessness, some have known to feel a knot in the stomach and even have suicidal thoughts.

If celebrities who have everything going for them can go through depression, then anyone can. Just like anyone can get the flu. Nobody can put a finger on how it starts. There may be a trigger or may not. Triggers include recent stressful events like loss of a loved one, breaking of a relationship, financial losses etc. Even addiction to drugs and alcohol cause depression.

Ayurveda teaches that every emotion is related to an organ of the body. Prolonged sorrow or grief can damage the lungs. Excessive fear makes the kidneys weak. Rage or anger makes muscles tenser and stiff. All illnesses must be treated suitably, and so even depression. Since the mind and body are interconnected, the treatment must be psychosomatic. Psyche means the mind and soma means the body. This is where psychological therapy comes in. What a person may not be able to tell a close relative or friend, he or she may confide in a professional. Further, there is no shame in admitting that one needs therapy. When a car breaks down, one is not ashamed of taking it to the garage.

All said and done, depression is not the end of the world. Neither is psychiatry an exact science nor are psychiatrists gods. Medication has its side effects and cannot be relied upon permanently. Since every mind is as unique as one’s DNA, it is not easy either. Loved ones need to be there for the affected with patience and understanding. With a little professional and personal help, wonders can be done.

Family members must be a close-knit unit, aware of every member’s mood and change in temperament. Any recent change in behaviour may be readily noticed then. It is easier when the illness is at an early stage. A stitch in time saves nine. Sadly in today’s fast-paced times, people have the world at their fingertips but are blissfully ignorant of the goings-on in their own home and family. Maybe if there was an app for measuring emotions, we would be more mindful of our loved one’s mental health.

Let’s not go around giving all sorts of unwanted advice on depression. We may not be able to help every depression patient. What we can do is start at home with family and friends. Be more kind. #LoveIsKey. Love conquers all. Let’s not be insensitive like Salman. Remember depression can be cured, stupidity cannot!

 

 
By Harita Pinto
Hanita Pinto has a masters in law from SDM Law College. She has earlier worked in Bengaluru as a legal compliance officer.
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • John, Mangalore

    Thu, Aug 27 2020

    Wonderful thoughts and well written,

    Also adding , revengeful anger and hatred over the time is very bad. It is like squeezing or stepping on the throttle of individual acidity gland which may lead to internal burning sensation or even ulcers. Let go mentality and trust in God to take care of it or the situation is the wise choice.

    Why love is the key!

    Our mind like a thought machine or processor. With too many thoughts it cannot take care normal backend body functions (leading to body sicknesses). And these negative thoughts, like of low self-esteem, of low confidence, of guilt and self hating can put oneself into depression and worst case suicidal thoughts.

    Always love these negative thoughts as and when they come to surrender them to God for Him to take care of them and to guide oneself overcome them over the time or through His Angels or through some good Samaritans as, God is Love.

    Love, peace, joy, forgiveness, mercy... these divine traits can be imbibed reading daily
    Holy Scriptures reading a chapter at time or more specially when negative thoughts are haunting, to change them to positive thoughts and also as said to imbibe divine traits.

    If negative thoughts due to guilt, recital of psalm 51 slowly and meditatingly is the best way to overcome them over the time and to get oneself peace of mind, to start anew and to get going positively.


Leave a Comment

Title: Love is Key



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.