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Remove the stigma

A famous film actor has come out and told that she was struggling with depression last year.

 I congratulate her for her courage in admitting the fact and also helping in reducing the stigma attached with mental ailments.

 According to NDTV around 36 percent of Indian population is depressed. And that is reported figure. But we Indians still are unable to accept the fact that mental ailments are as common as physical ailments. And we still run a whisper campaign against those whom we think are undergoing depression or anxiety. 

 We need to think for a minute here. What if tomorrow my child or my grand child or any one close to me is depressed and people start gossiping about her, what would happen to my child? No, we do not want that to happen. So let us stop this stigma.

 Again I have a personal agenda here. I am depressed and have social anxiety too. But now I am 50, I do not mind opening telling it to people. 

Few years back I was attending weekly counselling in one of places in Bangalore. It is free couneslling. And a doctor would take feed back from counsellors  and prescribe medications. I would wait for entire week to open my heart to these counsellors. But one day, after waiting for a long time, the counsellors rejected to talk to me saying I could be counselled only after I continue medications and there is some effect of that. 

 I came out of the building crying. If this is the attitude of counsellors, you could very well guess, what would be attitude of general public. 

I am still struggling. I would listen to some spiritual talk in one of TV channels early in the morning. Now funnily, our cable is not showing that channel. OK, I do not want to end up whining about my story in this post. 

So to conclude, in order to reduce the number of suicides, please accept the fact that just like our body, our mind can also be sick some times. And few have COURAGE to admit it. So accept them and let them live peacefully.
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