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Tag: mental health

Finding a Psychotherapist: A Quick Guide

Finding a Psychotherapist: A Quick Guide

Authored by Shabari Bhattacharyya, this post provides insights on how one can find a good therapist. Shabari has worked as a mental health practitioner since 2008 in both India and the US. Her expertise lies in counseling and clinical supervision in mental health issues, couples’ counseling and family therapy. What to Look for in a Mental Health Provider, when Nothing is Clearly Defined Finding the right therapist/ counselor/ psychiatrist/ psychologist is complicated anywhere, but in India this process becomes even…

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I’m not here

I’m not here

Sharwari Tilloo and Manasa Murari Have you heard that story about the cat stealing milk and getting caught? When she was caught, she closed her eyes because she thought no one would see her. I am that cat. I think if I stand in a corner, no one will see me. At work or with people I know, I am comfortable and can be chatty. So most people are shocked to know that I am an introvert. I suspect it…

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Demystifying Bipolar Disorder

Demystifying Bipolar Disorder

A few weeks ago, Piali Dasgupta approached me to talk about my journey with Bipolar II Disorder on her podcast The Mind Podium.  We spoke about mental health in general and Bipolar II specifically. Our conversation was around societal and personal constraints, difficulties and solutions to navigating life through mental illness.  Please do listen to the podcast here. I hope you find it useful. You can listen to the Mind Podium podcasts on Spotify, Amazon Audible, Gaana and Hubhopper. Piali…

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“The spirit catches you and you fall down”*

“The spirit catches you and you fall down”*

Ten days ago, I experienced a grand mal seizure. This type of seizure causes a loss of consciousness and muscle convulsions. The convulsions can cause you to bite your tongue badly, which I did. The last grand mal seizure I had was nearly fourteen years ago, so this was totally unexpected and absolutely terrifying, more so for my husband, because I have no recollection of what happened.  From what I can remember, there were no signs of anything out of…

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The Bird Watch

The Bird Watch

Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2022 turns out a lot better than 2021. To start things off on a positive note, here’s a fun post for you.  If you’ve read my previous post, you will know that my father was seriously ill from post COVID complications and as a result, I stayed in Pune for almost four months after many many years. The positive outcome of all the COVID lockdowns is that the bird population has increased and many different…

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"Just keep swimming"
COVID, MY TEACHER – PART III

COVID, MY TEACHER – PART III

I come from a unique family where my parents are each other’s best friends, companions and partners. My mother is undoubtedly the rock of our family and my father will attest to this. She is the strongest and most compassionate person I know. Someday I hope to be sthitapradnya (stable or balanced) like her.  I am sharing this because through my father’s illness, even when he was at death’s door, she was rattled but calm, composed and accepting of the…

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Escape to Another Word

Escape to Another Word

I come from a family of readers. Not just my immediate family but my extended family too. My sister was a voracious reader as a young girl. In fact, there are old photographs with her with a book and me without. So when I wasn’t reading obsessively by the time I was 10 years old, my mother started getting palpitations thinking that she had given birth to a non-reader. Fortunately for us all, it was only a passing phase and…

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Drawing from Nature

Drawing from Nature

I have greatly benefited from the lockdowns that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave me ample time to introspect on my experiences related to mental health. As I recall, the last time I experienced a prolonged absence from social interactions was during summer vacations. Growing with Nature My sister and I spent most summer days locked indoors till our parents returned from work. We lived as a nuclear family in a largely unfamiliar and possibly unsafe metropolitan city. Being…

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How can I help?

How can I help?

Often people ask me how they can help someone with a mental illness. This is quite tricky as it varies from person to person and condition to condition. According to me, it is less challenging to help someone who is already undergoing treatment rather than someone who has not accepted that they have a mental illness  Helping a person who has not accepted their illness I think that often the person may be aware that they have some mental illness…

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How I manage my world of anxieties

How I manage my world of anxieties

Last week I spoke about anxiety, the different kinds of anxiety and how it affects me mentally and physically. Like mentioned, anxieties tend to manifest bodily in one form or another. Please refer to last week’s post ‘Anxious much?’ to read more about it.  Coping versus avoidance We have coping mechanisms to handle any unpleasant feeling or experience. The mechanisms may not always be positive or helpful and may in fact be avoidance tactics rather than coping mechanisms. Let me…

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