Excited as any small town guy, Vaibhav (from Uttar Pradesh) came to Mumbai, city of dreams.Bright and a jovial kid as he was, Vaibhav was appearing for CAT after his graduation and managed to get admission in one of the top 22 colleges, in his first attempt.
As all MBA students would know how hectic the first year of college is, the gun shots were fired and the race started. Vaibhav did well, he coped up with rigorous teaching sessions, assignments & hostel life pretty well, made a few friends too. Everything appeared to be going his way. Despite of tough competition from colleagues he got selected by a multinational in first round of campus recruitment.
Vaibhav’s professional life has started. It was his first job so there was lot to learn. Everyone in his family & friends were happy for him. Everything was going good but a couple of months later, Vaibhav noticed a change. Life was no more the same, he didn’t had time he used to have for his hobbies or leisure, he was not being treated well at office, living in a city like Mumbai (you have to travel) so traveling was also taking its toll on him. Gradually, Vaibhav started losing his interest in everything although he was doing pretty well at his work but somehow it looked like someone sucked the life out of him.
This continued for another year, until family members, roommates & close friends took notice. Vaibhav’s behavior changed drastically. Jovial, outgoing, social Vaibhav suddenly became a robot who did not show any feelings of joy or sadness, did not call his best friends, and did not speak much but only went to work, came back and locked himself in his room. He did speak to his mother though, twice during this time but she thought it was normal work stress and he will eventually get used to it.
Everybody knew there’s something wrong but nobody knew what and how serious until the day, when Vaibhav resigned; Unannounced, without consulting anyone, just kept to himself even after resigning from work, stayed at home days and nights, and after a month sitting at home he told his parents and roommates. He appeared dull & depressed. Soon his parents called him back from Mumbai to stay with them at home, they thought it will be good for Vaibhav. But Vaibhav didn’t bounce back! On the contrary, he became more confined to his room and didn’t even allow his best friends or cousins inside.
The worries of well-wishers & family continued to grow about why without any logical reason Vaibhav resigned himself from everything. His Father decided to take him to a clinical psychologist. In the beginning, Vaibhav was hesitant and was not able to open-up but with constant support and motivation he did. It was then revealed that he was suffering from depression and needed immediate attention.
As the therapy proceeded Vaibhav took one step at a time. Starting from hobby classed to spending time with family. It was a tough road and it did take a while, but with professional help and lots of patience it was achieved. Over a period of time Vaibhav had started gaining his confidence back. He was finally getting a grip on life and after quite a struggle was able to come out as a strong person. Through the course of therapy he also made some changes in lifestyle. He also started practicing yoga and did daily exercise. Soon he decided to return and was able to find a job in Bangalore. Vaibhav today is married, has a kid and doing well in life.
Vaibhav was a close friend of mine and his journey of depression had a huge impact on me. It taught me how depression can affect anyone – you me or anyone you love. It could be biological, psychological or induced by stress & struggles of life in general. It is important that we identify the early signs in ourselves or someone we love and seek help. Seeing a counselor or a clinical psychologist is still considered a taboo in our society, but we need to understand just like our physical health, our mental health is also important and should be attended to with utmost priority.
Your D.O.S.T is an emotional support system where you can anonymously share feelings that are worrying you – ‘family expectations, peer pressure, relationship issues, confusions, work pressure’ without the fear of social stigma. Signup Now and start chatting with psychologists and other trained professionals.
About Author:
Subham is your special friend from Your D.O.S.T team.
An entrepreneur and a compassionate listener, he has seen his friends going through a very tough time and that inspired him to take out time from his hectic schedule and help those who sometimes need a little hope.
