Anikha is 21 years old and is a student at the esteemed institute of KCG, Coimbatore. She is pursuing her Fashion Technology course and belongs to Tamil Nadu. Her hobbies include drawing and dancing and she is passionate about it as it helps her get through her bad days. Anikha comes from a humble family and also explained that she has a good relationship with them and as people, they are compatible with each other and have respected her choices.
The iceberg story is something that all of us as individuals can relate to for several reasons. In the case of Anikha’s story, while the tip of the iceberg was all glimmering and standing tall, the portion below was slowly chipping away.
Every relationship goes through different phases and not all of them are a bed of roses. This was the feeling of our warrior Anikha, as she began talking to us about her struggles in maintaining a healthy relationship with her partner.
She came across YourDOST and its services through her college as they signed up with the platform as the official mental health partner for her college.
Anikha decided to take the first step towards her betterment and booked her sessions online to discuss the difficulties she was facing in her relationship.
“I met with Ms. Sujithra, and the fact that she speaks the same language as me made me feel comfortable while opening up.”
Relationships are spaces where we express our vulnerabilities and have our partners embrace them. While it works out for some, it takes time for others. Anikha was still learning through the different feelings that this gave her.
“My partner and I have known each other for a long time and we began our relationship a few years ago. It was not difficult for me to know him or be around but things started going downhill because of the people around us.”
Anikha here were issues caused because of friends and mutuals. We’ve known each other for almost 5-6 years now.
Anikha mentioned that there were severe trust issues and this hampered their relationship.
“I heard about YD through college and things have never started to feel better than what it is now.”
Anikha used therapy to talk about her feelings and get a new professional perspective on her situation. While she had mutual friends things started brewing between her partner and her because of the multiple issues that were going on in the group.
“Ms, Sujithra spoke to me about having open communication with my partner.”
As people in relationships, we sometimes tend to get into the understanding of how the partner realises how they feel. While the bitter truth is, we miss out on explaining our feelings to them. This is a pattern witnessed in so many relationships and Anikha had a similar problem.
“I used to hide things from him as I would be scared of the consequences. It would put me in a stressful state of being responsible for his bad mood, and I ended up refraining from having difficult conversations with him.”
Her counselor heard her through and started suggesting with easy techniques to help her sail through these difficult times. She also described how it helped her identify his love language do things for him actively and help him realise it.
Anikha expressed that she also helped her by asking her to maintain a gratitude journal, and remain calm in stressful situations and how these helped her calm down.
She had always been a happy and outgoing person, but this particular incident triggered her mental health. Thankfully, Anikha spotted the problem and was determined to get back on track.
“My level of concentration has increased and I can focus on the task at hand. I don’t question my decisions and trust my own intuition.”
This was the first time Anikha took up counselling, it made a huge difference in the quality of her emotional well-being.
“My therapist was a good listener and was empathetic about my situation. I could believe in her judgement, and use the advice to solve the issues in the friendship.”
She also expressed how It helped her focus on herself more than her partner, she transitioned from being obsessed with him to focusing on her friends, family, and career.
When we asked her if she had any word of gratitude she wished to share with her counselor she said:
“It was just 4-5 months of counseling but the change is so drastic. She saved me from a bad phase and it takes me by surprise every time I think about it.”
She was able to slowly repair the chipped iceberg and decided to build her foundation stronger than ever before and that has helped her stand tall looking majestic in the adventurous ocean called life!
Anikha’s’s Warrior Tips:
1.“It is always best to get a different perspective about your problems; don’t be wary about seeking help.”
2.“You are not alone; people are here to help you through your struggles.”
