“Sometimes, we don’t need advice. We just need somebody to listen.”
For Dhruv, who was a self-described non-believer in counselling, these words proved to be quite prophetic.
22-year-old Dhruv is a B.Com graduate of Ahmedabad University, a reputed interdisciplinary university based out of Ahmedabad City. For Dhruv, joining college involved moving away from his hometown for the first time. Even more disconcerting for him was that he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life.
I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do career-wise in the future.
Dhruv just wasn’t sure what subjects he was truly interested in to pursue a career in. The resulting worry made him completely isolate himself. He found himself unable to make any friends. To add to that, the college lectures would have some 120 students in a class, people he hadn’t been able to connect with and he felt completely lost. To put it in his own words, college didn’t feel like college.
Needless to say, Dhruv started feeling incredibly bored and lonely. Away from home for the first time, worried about his future, and with no one to talk to, Dhruv’s distress grew to a point where all he yearned for was someone to pour his heart out to and share all his frustrations, worries, etc. with.
“I was aware of our university’s partnership with YourDOST. I didn’t really believe in counselling. But I decided to give it a shot nonetheless”
He connected with a couple of YourDOST’s Experts until he settled on Sudha, a Senior Psychologist with the platform. Speaking with her proved quite pleasant for Dhruv. He finally had someone to talk to. He was able to discuss things with her which he couldn’t discuss with his parents or brother. As their sessions progressed over the next few weeks, Sudha encouraged him to acknowledge and accept his feelings and reassured him about the future.
She told me that it’s ok to feel lonely and that things will work out eventually
With time, Dhruv started feeling better. He would feel less lonely and more positive. It also helped that he realised what he was really interested in as a subject. He started opting for more courses related to it and that gave him direction in life. He also found many of his peers in these courses also started interacting with him, although now that he had directed, he felt he didn’t need the company of others as much.
“I knew what I liked and was working on it. I didn’t really need people anymore”
Today, Dhruv is out of therapy and has graduated from his program. He’s busy making his career and doesn’t feel the need for counselling anymore. But he does advise others, who might be in the same boat as he was, to seek out professional support.
“Counseling is a very normal thing. That’s the perspective that you need to enter it with. If you do that and stay consistent with it, things will definitely change for the better.”
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Dhruv’s Warrior Tips:
1. If you stay consistent, things will definitely change
2. If you can’t find someone to talk to, reach out to a professional
