Akshara, a 22-year-old law student from National Law University, Delhi, is on her journey to structuring and making her case file come alive.
Born and raised in Delhi, Akshara grew up in a nuclear family with her parents and an elder brother. She explains that she has a sound relationship with her family members.
“I had a hectic childhood due to my various interests. My family has always been of great support through each one of them.”
Akshara explained that she had been exploring different art forms since childhood, including a degree in Bharatnatyam. She has monetised her painting skills and has a mastery of music. She says she also has an artistic collection of vinyls that she likes to listen to whenever possible.
She enjoys occasional museum tours and learning about impressional artists and their lives. Akshara adds that she is also a fitness enthusiast and has played basketball at the national level.
As Akshara grew up and started her undergraduate studies in law, things started getting hard for her.
“Being part of one of the top universities in the country, it was tough to manage the academic pressure and all my interests. The time I gave for my other passion started declining each day.”
Akshara explained that she had educated herself about therapy and wanted to find a way to access it. She was unaware of its availability in her surroundings, and when she heard about her college’s partnership with YourDOST, she sought help from the experts on the platform.
“I was sceptical about how a stranger could help me intrinsically when I couldn’t do it myself, but sessions with Ms Rineeta Banerjee became an eye opener for me.”
She elaborates that Ms Rineeta could add the communication expertise that Akshara needed. Eventually, Akshara started confiding in her counselor and opening up about her issues.
Akshara discussed the gravity of academic pressure that persists in her professional life and how the emotional pile-up caused by a traumatic breakup with her partner stimulated burnout in her.
“It was a challenging place for me. I became dysfunctional in every aspect of my life. Amidst this, I had to write one of the country’s most tough sets of exams.”
Akshara explains that she couldn’t afford to be redundant from her own life and live with pain every day. She explains that the emotional turmoil led to feeling lost and uncomfortable with everything around her.
She says that her counselor employed the grounding technique to manage her emotional discomfort and to help with her triggers. Akshara adds that it helped her identify her triggers and led to more introspection. She was also asked to incorporate journaling by periodically writing a letter to herself.
“Ms Banerjee’s technique was compelling as she understood that I could articulate and understand my emotions well, but I didn’t have a place to express them.”
Akshara elaborates that with her packed lifestyle, her time for self-reflection used to be spent in art and sports. Her therapist pushed her to understand how those techniques could be used to better her mental health instead of introducing new concepts.
Along the way, following through on what she learned in therapy, Akshara says that she feels like her old self and doesn’t require therapy as frequently as she did a few months back.
“The emotional intelligence I instilled through therapy made me understand how I want to live my life. The storms of anxiety have settled, and I’m no more in that dark which caused me pain and confusion.”
She adds that the trust she developed in Ms Rineeta was reflected in her results, which she calls the ‘comeback of the century’.
“My counselor was a woman of experience and poise. So, I found her confident in her techniques and thanked her after every session. She invested an ear and mind in my story; it felt better to be expressive.”
Akshara feels immensely blessed that she was able to experience therapy. She rates herself 4.25 out of 5 for feeling better.
We wholeheartedly wish Akshara the best in growing and reaching where she wants to be.
Akshara’s Warrior Tips:
1.“As Michel Foucault says, ‘people who are often termed crazy change the world’, so being different is ordinary.”
2.“Improvement is growing and learning through every experience.”
Are you someone who has gone through a difficult phase and emerged stronger and better, with some professional help? Share your story with us to encourage thousands of others who might be struggling. Click here to submit your story.
