Vaibhav is a 21-year-old Physics student at NIT Surat. He is a native of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. His family is a small one with just him and his mother. He is an expressive and energetic person with two main hobbies. Badminton is something he has been playing since childhood and he has started learning to play the guitar recently.
Vaibhav cherished his relationship with his late father as he fondly recalls his childhood. He would take them to movies and fairs when he was younger. However, due to a tragic cardiac arrest, the father passed away in 2020. This was a turning point for the family when they lost their safety net.
Due to the savings made by the father, they managed to pay rent and sustain themselves, but it took a toll on Vaibhav’s mental health. Despite everything that his mother was enduring, Vaibhav explains how she stood like a rock by his side through it all. He feels immense gratitude to his mother for unconditionally supporting him and for having incredible strength during their tough times.
Family relationships have their own dynamics and in Vaibhav’s case, he did learn how to work around it with time. It was also around this time did he understand that his college had partnered with YourDOST after speaking to his college dean.
“The Dean told YourDOST that one of our students needs help.”
He recommended YourDOST to me with complete trust in it. Someone amongst the college officials registered on behalf of Vaibhav, and that is how YourDOST got in touch with him.
Vaibhav explains how back in the time, he was not aware of mental health disorders like depression. He believed in supernatural interventions as the cause of such issues. Culturally, it was understood as black magic to be the cure, and he explains how his family spent a lot of money on scammers who sold them false hope as they were desperate for a solution.
He had developed symptoms that were not aligned with who he is as a person. He knew that something was off. People around him, his mother and neighbours were able to recognise it as well. His self-esteem took a hit due to these serious challenges.
Since he was unwell and wished to get better, he decided to give talk therapy a chance. He evaluated YourDOST positively from the very beginning because of a couple of reasons. He saw the massive reach of the platform. Secondly, his college had tied up with the organisation to help its students.
Around November 2021, Vaibhav was suggested to take professional support from a psychologist or a psychiatrist because his mental illness took a toll on him. While the medications were helpful, they came with side effects of severe drowsiness, for up to 20 hours a day. His mother was primarily concerned about him getting better and was open to anything that could help.
He evaluated YourDOST positively from the very beginning because of a couple of reasons. He saw the massive reach of the platform. The counsellor assigned to him was Ayushi Dixit.
He narrates how she was a kind, gentle and humble human being. If he had to describe therapy with her in a single word, he mentioned ‘change’. Along with the conversations, she offered help in the form of suggestions.
“I had interpersonal issues between my father and paternal grandmother. Naturally, I was not close to her while growing up. Upon my father’s death, my grandmother decided to oust me and ,my mother from their home. My maternal grandparents had passed away by then. This was a stressful period for us.”
He mentions how his counselor suggested that he commits to Yoga every day, just 5 minutes of Pranayama. She spoke to him to try engaging himself in hobbies like listening to music that makes him feel good. Considering his circumstances, he could not follow it religiously, but he kept trying. Despite all this difficulty, he consistently took help. He says that the conversations were the best part of therapy.
“I am grateful to my counselor. She had all the greatness and goodness deep rooted in her and she had all that I wanted to have as an individual. It gave me an instant connection and I felt relevant with my emotions.”
Vaibhav’s commitment to recovery is evident in the efforts he was making. He also feels that his counsellor was everything he needed at that point in time. He improved significantly and soon started being productive with regard to academic demands.
He became active and mentions how his emotional balance increased and he stopped feeling lost. In terms of getting better, Vaibhav rated himself with a massive 4.4 on 5. The positive energy and the genuineness Vaibhav embodies after his recovery can be felt roaring through his story. his emotional crisis.
Vaibhav elucidates how there was a tough time in his life when some misinformed people called him ‘mad’. He says this would have bothered him back when he was grappling with his mental health issues, but now he has developed his self-esteem and feels secure and therefore such things do not bother him
He misses his mother, her love and her food but also looks forward to festivities in college and has many activities keeping him occupied.
In terms of getting better, Vaibhav rated himself with a massive 4.4 on 5. The positive energy and the genuineness Vaibhav embodies after his recovery can be felt roaring through his story.
Vaibhav’s Warrior Tips:
1. Fighting with one’s own negativity is important.
2. When you defeat that negativity, you take your power back
3. Rule your own self, your body, by being the ruler of your mind.
