“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”
Meet Jinal, a 20-year-old management student. She completed her schooling in the town and moved to Ahmedabad for her graduate studies.
A family is the foundation on which each one of us grows and spreads out our wings. Jinal had a beautiful family of 6 members who supported her throughout her life. They are extremely friendly and she talks to them over the phone almost every day. She also makes it a point to visit them every 15-20 days from college.
“My hobbies are mainly painting, doing arts and crafts, reading books or current affairs.”
Jinal learnt about YourDOST from her institute which has collaborated with the organisation as their official mental health partner, and here she met her therapist, Ms Jennifer.
“I started facing problems in the second year of my college. The new year of college and the feelings of extreme homesickness got to my head. I used to cry for hours without any reason.”
Jinal spent some time with her family over weekends and those times were the happiest for her, however, the crying episodes followed her and she would cry for almost 2 hours at a time. She could not work on her projects and procrastination hit her hard.
Jinal started feeling lonely and helpless, and that’s when her parents thought of consulting a therapist for her well-being. She was prescribed medication and slowly got better with time.
“When I was at home, I would feel fine, but other than that I couldn’t bring out my emotions a lot.”
The following months were more challenging for Jinal as she was feeling lost and confused due to her intrusive thoughts. She felt as if everything was wrong and she was the reason for it. Her anxiety and stress were over the roof which led to more issues around her.
“I’m a night owl and prefer studying at night. I used to study till 2 in the morning and this caused a fallout between me and my roommates. The hostel management pointed fingers towards me and suddenly I was the bad guy everywhere.”
She had rifts even with her parents and demanded answers for why everyone targeted her. Her parents could only console and support her at the time and were equally confused about the future.
“I was a fairly interactive student in class and raised my hand whenever I wanted to answer questions. Some students tried cutting me off while answering and even my professor wasn’t happy with me.”
Jinal regretted her actions and felt confused about such situations and did not know what to do. She wanted to learn to deal with them and discover her potential at the same time.
Jinal noticed how batchmates and peers were seeking therapy and decided to give it a try with the YourDOST platform.
“Ms Jennifer was a blessing in disguise in my life. She did not ever give me advice but helped me with solutions whenever needed. I explained how I could no longer do the things that excited me I was oversensitive. She was a great listener to my concerns and was equally soft-spoken as well.”
Ms Jennifer helped Jinal turn to activities like deep breathing techniques, guided meditation and maintaining a self-improvement journal that helped her record her progress. The therapist suggested taking naps every now and then, to break the cycle of frustration.
“I was concerned about my academic performance, emotions and the pandemic didn’t help with my mental concerns. I lost around 10 kgs in the second year of college which made me very weak.”
Jinal shared her concerns in detail with Ms Jennifer who advised her to change her dorm room, as she wasn’t a social person, and Jinal agreed to the suggestion.
“I used to thank Ms Jennifer after each session as she helped me the most during my worst times. She is someone who listens to my concerns and not once did she force me to do anything that I didn’t want to do. She made my dreams clear to me as she asked me to dream about 5 things every day.”
Jinal rates her improvement a Golden 5 on 5 and envisions improvement to be progress made in life. Her story is a testament to her determination and hard work, and we at YourDOST wish her all the best for her future!
Jinal’s Warrior Tips:
1.“Do not wait for things to get worse before seeking help.”
2.“Believe in yourself and your capabilities to succeed in life.”
