Dinesh (name changed) is a 19-year-old student studying for his graduate studies at IIIT, Delhi. He is in his third year of his Bachelor’s in Technology. Besides being an avid reader, Dinesh occasionally enjoys playing sports like cricket and listening to good music.
Dinesh comes from a nuclear family of four, including his parents and younger sister. He explains that he has always had a perfect relationship with his family and has a special bond with his mother.
As a kid, Dinesh was shy and introverted. Despite that, he says he had many friends during childhood and recollects those days as his happiest times.
“During school, every day used to be entertaining, but as I moved to college, things changed. I eventually started being burdened by academic and other social responsibilities.”
While battling to find balance, Dinesh adds that after his first year, he had grown apart from his new college friends. When he tried to contact his old friends, Dinesh says he wasn’t received well, which also hurt him.
Feeling lonely, Dinesh couldn’t take it and wanted to talk to someone. He sought help from the experts from YourDOST after seeing the emails about their tie-up with his college. Dinesh explains that this was his first experience with therapy, and he felt relieved and relaxed after his first session, as he felt hopeful that it could help him with his issues.
Eventually, Dinesh started taking sessions from Ms Anagha Ashwini Kumar and found her compassionate towards his problems. This was surprising for Dinesh and made him feel good. He began to open up about his problems to her.
“I felt like nobody was there for me, and even though I had friends whom I cared for, no one seemed to care about me, and I wasn’t special to anyone.”
Dinesh elaborates that he also started feeling his efforts were one-sided with his school friends. He recollects them making excuses, not convincing him for not texting or calling him back. He says that it was painful because he would always revert back and never ignore any of them.
“I was extremely sad and angry. I kept asking myself how could someone be so inconsiderate of someone else’s feelings.”
Around the same time, he also had a complicated experience with one of his schoolmates to whom he was attracted. Dinesh tried to interact with her more but distanced himself when the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.
Understanding Dinesh’s feelings, his counselor helped him control them by labelling the emotions every time he felt something extreme. He says it helped him track all the negative emotions affecting his growth and focus.
Since his major issues were around his friends, Ms Anagha made him do some tasks, such as making a pros and cons list of being friends with those people.
“They were all simple tasks, and understanding their effects took me a while. It made me reflect on myself and drove me towards finding the right conclusion for each situation.”
Dinesh explains that eventually, he felt more confident and could calm his mind. He found clarity and learned the mechanisms for dealing with similar social situations.
Dinesh expresses his gratitude towards his counselor for helping him navigate his emotions and for listening to him entirely without interruptions each time.
“I never imagined a stranger could help me significantly improve my personality and behaviour. Thanks to my counselor, I feel a 5 out of 5 regarding my growth and progress.”
We wish Dinesh all the best for his future and hope he will grow each day and succeed in life!
Dinesh’s Warrior Tips:
1.“Life is short; live in the present to the fullest.”
2.“Everything bothering you today will become a distant memory tomorrow; trust that this will pass.”
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