“Counseling has to do with intuition, with work on oneself, with the quietness of one’s mind and the openness of one’s heart.” – Ram B.
Growing up in a nuclear family, 23-years-old Bijoy (name changed) never thought he’d pay heed to mental health, for him, it was never in the equation.
Bijoy was born and brought up in Kolkata, after which he moved to Hyderabad to complete his higher studies. Bijoy moved further in his career to pursue engineering at a prestigious university. Apart from his academics, Bijoy, in his free time, loves to engage in various activities such as tennis, hockey, and swimming too! Bijoy also added colours to his regime when he started enjoying cooking along with being an avid reader.
“I started working as a Product Manager in a company. But as the pandemic hit the nation, my world had suddenly turned upside down.”
Covid-19 had created a sudden shift in many people’s lives. Bijoy’s life was no different. With the sudden onset of the pandemic, Bijoy found his new environment difficult to cope with. With a drastic increase in work pressure along with the addition of many more issues, Bijoy could see nothing but negativity from all sides. Like many of us, Bijoy had moved back home. But unlike other holiday seasons with everyone meeting each other, the pandemic had created a social isolation necessity, which in turn, became the very reason for Bijoy to experience new challenges.
“Suddenly, there were no friends around me. With no social life and new issues getting generated from my then relationship, I had entered a new realm of emotional instability.”
Feeling distracted from his work, Bijoy would often find himself wondering about his scenario where everything seemed monotonous. Neither was there a social life, nor much interaction within his four walls. The worst part was his inability to express himself. Bijoy couldn’t understand how to go about his newfound mental health domain as the mere sharing he attempted, came back to him as words like “everything is going to be fine”. But Bijoy couldn’t make peace with his situation.
“I started experiencing deep anxiety issues as loneliness crept in with the constant fear of uncertainty. Eventually, I began to binge on TV shows and eat endlessly throughout the night to beat boredom.”
Becoming a person who would sit inside all day wasn’t a great journey for Bijoy. At the same time, as the great Indian festival Dusshera came by, Bijoy was emotionally triggered to see his friends having fun on social media. While he sat at home in his own loneliness, Bijoy decided to reach out with YourDOST, which was associated with his company.
Being comfortable to communicate in Bengali, Bijoy got in touch with Madhura. Bijoy had initially chosen counseling without any expectations but he definitely liked how the outcome was.
“I got connected with Madhura for a counseling session via video sessions. The sessions seemed casual with a couple of ice-breakers for me to get comfortable.”
Madhura guided Bijoy on how to view his life from a different perspective. By the end of the sessions, Bijoy always seemed to feel lighter as all his issues were weighing him down. As Bijoy describes his journey through counseling as “Gradual”, he also offers his warm gratitude to his counselor.
Bijoy rates his overall improvement through counseling with a 4 out of 5. We, at YourDOST, feel that he is more than capable of crossing oceans with such grandeur and courage. He is truly an inspiration.
Bijoy’s Warrior Tips:
1. Often due to lack of awareness and lack of understanding, people from society hesitate from seeking out help.
2. This is something people should overcome because once you open up, it feels much better when you come out from the other side.
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