"Depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, we don't know the end. The fog of Depression is like a cage without a key. But we can look for another door to enter the world of sunflowers. So, Talk about it."

That's what we say. 

We speak &  write about empathy & kindness but we never talk about the process after that?

Have you ever thought about the cost of a  'single good therapy session'?

Approx. Rs. 5000/session.(minimum)

Do we have the courage to acknowledge how inaccessible and unaffordable therapy is for most of us?

What after one decides to get help, after going through the painful process of articulating the problem to their close ones?

  So, the next step is shelling out an obscene amount of money for just one session.

 For those of us who are not financially independent yet, it is legitimately impossible to afford mental healthcare without the support of the family.

I remember one of my college mate asking for financial help for treating her Bipolar Disorder as her parents didn't support her? So, support is rare & even though there is support, the amount of burden to make the most out of the first session itself overthrows the very objective of therapy. 

If there is a disconnect with the first therapist one visits, the disappointment and guilt is an immense setback, and a large part of it is because of the associated financial limitation. The onus of 'success' is on the person who needs help when it should be the other way round. 

Mental health problems compound daily. It takes months and years of nurtured therapy to handle them, and unfortunately, that is out of reach for most of us today. It is our responsibility to be kind and empathetic, to check in on friends – but it's also important to understand their financial limitations.

They cannot be a substitute for therapy.  Even when they want to help, they don't have the resources or the expertise to go all the way. 

If we don't work towards making quality mental healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone, these well-meaning passages amount to nothing. 

We lost one of the creative souls & the need of the hour is to address the structural scars that push people to a juncture of no return. Rest in Peace, Sushant Singh Rajput. 

 HAPPY OR SAD: THE CHEMISTRY BEHIND DEPRESSION

“The human life is made up of choices. Yes or No. In or Out. Up or Down. Live or Die. Hero or Coward. I’ll say it again to make sure you hear me. The human life is made up of choices. Live or die. That’s an important choice. And it’s not always in our hands.”

-Derek Shepherd, Season 6, Episode 24.

Genetic makeup influences how sensitive you are to stressful life events. When genetics, biology, and stressful life situations come together, depression can result.

Stress has its own physiological story with a chain of chemical reactions and responses in the body. 

People with suicidal thoughts exhibit higher levels of Translocator Protein, associated with microglial activation and indicating inflammation of the brain in a region of the cortex which is involved in emotional processes.

The long story of stress causes the low secretion of Serotonin ‘the happy neurotransmitter’, which increases the higher risk of suicide

Dopamine, ‘the motivational chemical’ and Noradrenaline, ‘fight-to-fight chemical’ acts as ‘magical wand’ to reinforce pleasure.

Our thoughts regulate chemical processes. We can’t let negativity dominate us. 

The loss of creative soul, Sushi Bhai who won hearts through ‘ Chichore’ actually sparked mainstream media to talk about ‘ Mental Illness’. We need to make ‘therapy’ the ‘New Norm’. It’s okay not to be okay!