“Doing your best does not mean working until the verge of a breakdown.”- Unknown.
Working for your dreams and trying to be your best is always the perfect way to do a job, however, a blurred line between working hard and overworking leads to burnout and exhaustion. Identifying your boundaries and sticking to them no matter what, is equally important while working towards your goals.
Meet, Veer Gajarlawar, a young adult of 22, pursuing his third year of undergraduate studies at IIT Kharagpur. Born and raised in the elegant town of Chandrapur, Maharashtra, Veer hadn’t left the township in the first 20 years of his life until moving to Kharagpur for his studies.
“My family consists of just me and my mother because my father passed away quite a while ago. I have had an extremely cordial and good relationship with her compared to most relationships between children and their parents everywhere.”
Veer loves playing sports like badminton and recently developed a liking for playing Esports as well. He has mostly been a great academic-oriented student his entire life and thus spent a lot of time preparing to bag a seat at the prestigious institutes of India.
“In my first year at IIT Kharagpur, I joined the wellness group at the institute and was an associate member. We used to spread awareness about mental well-being and there I learned about YourDOST which has partnered with the institution as their official mental health partner.”
During his tenure in the wellness group, Veer discovered YourDOST and its services. Here he met Dr Seema Seth and chose her to be his therapist. He recalls his first impression of the session with Dr Seema as a memorable experience. He describes her as being empathetic and attentive towards his problems, providing short-term or long-term solutions as and when needed.
“I was preparing for IIT for so long that I was extremely burned out during my first year of college. It hindered my focus on my studies in my first year, which ultimately led to not-so-good results, which further hammered my mental health.”
The detrimental effects on Veer’s mental health were coupled with a few other situations where he faced hate from peers after losing a student’s election. He started questioning his worth and his self-esteem stooped to a new low. Veer was also stressed about his stand in life and his path towards a secure future. He experienced immense pressure which caused extreme mental pressure.
“I started having trouble sleeping because I used to have a lot of nightmares. At times, I used to release my frustrations on my family members or my friends. One day it dawned upon me that it was hampering my relationship with my family, and I decided to seek therapy.”
Dr Seema and Veer worked together to achieve his goal of mental well-being. She assigned Veer some exercises and activities which would help him attain his aim faster.
“We figured out that I spend most of my time alone and don’t usually hang out or socialise with others and she encouraged me to do that. She suggested I travel some more and hang out with friends to keep myself engaged.”
Dr Seema also advised Veer to document his thoughts and emotions in a journal to analyse and discuss them in the coming sessions. Along with journaling, there were breathing and meditation practices that were assigned to him. She always had an empathetic ear towards his concerns and gave out judgment-free solutions.
“Gradually, I stopped having nightmares and could sleep better because I had someone to talk to whenever I faced any problems. I learned how to analyse my feelings better instead of just feeling the overwhelming clutter of thoughts in my head.“
Veer could think much more clearly and figure out how to analyse his problems by himself and in the absence of his counsellor. Apart from that, he started socialising a bit more, and could better manage himself in public.
“I would like to thank her for everything she has done. I have always had this fear of judgment even when I share my problems with someone close but that did not happen with Seema and it is something I am grateful for.”
Veer wishes to continue his journey of healing with Dr Seema Seth as feels he has come a long way and has to go on one too. He rates himself a solid 4 out of 5 in terms of feeling better and envisions improvement as progresses in his journey.
Veer has shown great dedication in his healing journey and is trying to work on himself each day. We at YourDOST are proud of his achievements till now and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.
Veer’s Warrior Tips:
1.“It is that the magic you are looking for is actually in the work you are trying to avoid., which means we have to accept whatever situation we are in to work on it better.”
2.“Some situations might feel hard because you just expected it to be easy from the beginning which is not the case with most things, especially therapy.”
