Fall and Rise
This post talks about the challenges of depression and the importance of close relationships.
Motherhood
Analyzing the need to have children and exploring other forms of motherhood
The COVID that won’t leave
Struggling with long covid and depression
In Sickness and in Health
For the last two weeks, I’ve been laid up with two intense infections that overlapped- stomach flu/gastritis and either H3N2 or Covid. I have no energy, I am breathless all the time and my delicate stomach won’t allow me eat much. Being someone who likes to exercise and be occupied all the time, this period of quarantine has been mind numbingly boring. So if I get a sudden unprecedented burst of energy at 4.30am, I am going to take full…
Why so tired?
I am not a morning person. Well, sometimes neither am I a day nor night person! When I wake up, I never feel happy or have a carpe diem attitude. On some days, it takes a tremendous amount of effort to get out of bed. On most days, a cup of chai gives the push. After reading a number of articles, I came to the conclusion that I probably have morning depression. These articles stated that people with mental illness…
Who am I?
On January 1, 2023, I woke up feeling mildly depressed. But there was another unfamiliar accompanying feeling. After going through my repertoire of complicated feelings and emotions, I was able to identify it as fear. Real fear of 2023. Fear of what I want to do, need to do, am expected to do and fear of losing people. 2021-2022 really did a number on that one. What is normal? I went through everything that had happened in my life in…
Hear me out
In my first post, I spoke about what triggered my Bipolar II Disorder. I was 13 and a friend spread some rumors about me in school. As a result, everybody stopped talking to me. This triggered an onset of insomnia that would last for, well, looks like a lifetime and an eventual diagnosis of Bipolar II Disorder. Last night, I had a nightmare that I was back in school and my friends refused to talk to me. I woke up…
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…
The deep dive
It has been incredibly difficult for me to even start writing this post for several reasons. I have been going through severe depression for the last two months and as I begin to write this I realise that along with all the other emotions, I feel extremely angry for people not taking mental illness seriously, not understanding it or worse yet, ignoring it altogether. I want to talk in detail about depression, mainly for people who don’t understand what it…
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…