Trigger warning: Mention of fatal accident
Nikita is a 22-year-old second-year student pursuing her bachelor’s in Graphic Communication Design at the World University of Design, Delhi.
Nikita’s native place is Andhra Pradesh, Vishakhapatnam, where she was born in a joint family. Nikita and her parents moved to Delhi and are living there now. She explains that she never had many friends, and being a single child, she was more close to her mom.
“Despite not having friends, I’m confident, and I started enjoying solitude very early in life. It works for me than being around people who don’t match my vibe.”
Apart from designing, Nikita is also passionate about dancing and singing. She has been practising the classical dance Odissi for seven years. When Nikita started building a life for herself away from home, with demanding academics and new friends, she started feeling insecure.
Nikita adds that she has had problems finding ways to love herself since school. She wanted to understand herself better and introspect. When she shared this with her friend, she told Nikita about YourDOST’s visit to her college to introduce their services. Finding it to be her best option, Nikita logged in through her college email ID and started talking to the counselor available.
Nikita felt supported during the sessions, and the counselor was kind and helpful. However, she discontinued the sessions right when things started getting better. She experienced a loss that affected her enormously. Her cousin, who was like a brother to her, met with an accident and passed away.
“Even though I knew I needed therapy then more than ever, I wasn’t in a state to talk to anyone. I needed a break from the world.”
Nikita recollects that after six months of the incident, she continued to feel disturbed and right around that time, she received a follow-up call from YourDOST. She decided to restart her sessions and connected with Ms Antima Jain.
She adds that talking to Ms Antima gave her hope that things could improve. Nikita explains that losing someone dear to her what’s isn’t easy. Her entire family couldn’t overcome it, as her cousin was just 16. They couldn’t wrap their head around how or why it happened.
“I started fearing that I might also be someone else in my family. I kept feeling something might happen to them, just like my brother. Life felt extremely uncertain.”
Nikita elaborates that she started having nightmares about the tragic things that could happen to her family. Living in a hostel started making her more anxious, and she started getting panic attacks. She recollects crying every day, and even her parents suggested she restart therapy as they were worried.
After learning more about Nikita’s state of mind, the counselor suggested she pay attention to the chain of thoughts that leads to overthinking. To get past the triggers, Ms Antima suggested that Nikita search for five same-coloured objects every time her cousin came to her mind, which she explained was helpful.
The counselor also made Nikita write letters to her cousin every time she missed him to help her process grief. Eventually, they also started working on her sleep schedules and anxiety issues. She could feel her fears and overthinking patterns reduce.
Nikita adds that even though she is not completely healed, she continues to work on the triggers and her grief every day with the support of therapy. She says that both counselors positively impacted her life and helped her get better.
“I know healing takes time; I have to thank my counselor for travelling with me in the slow and gradual process. It is with her support that I’m trying my best.”
Nikita rates herself 3 out of 5 and strives to grow daily to be a better version of herself. We are proud of Nikita for staying strong through this process and hope to see her find the change she looks forward to.
Nikita’s Warrior tips:
1.“Open communication with your immediate circle can give you the support to cope with challenging times.”
2.“Don’t think about people’s comments; approach a therapist when needed.”
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