Reducing Stigma: Extending help helped me to understand my triggers better.

Dear World pulse members,

Women's Day Greetings.

Not all Win - Win situations are aloud, some victories are silent , progress in emotional health and showing up for each other.

Before I pen down my journey, I extend my gratitude to all my friends, families ,well wisher and word pulse solidarity for the great help in my mental health condition progress.

For years together I suffered with emotional challenges . Some of my friends and relatives failed to help me due to less awareness and thinking that mental health issue is a stigma. Encouragingly the stigma is lessened with more awareness now. Slowly with the help of my family, therapist, doctors and writers insight in uncertain times( experience into language that feels accessible & relatable) I am recovering.

Long back when I disclosed about my mental health healing journey in the social media, I got a negative comments like I am over sharing, dramatic , attention seeker etc etc. And there is positive comments too( & it is important to give more attention on positive comments when you are in healing process), and I never forget the positive supporting comments, love, encouragements, prayers and few of my friends connected personally to check how am I doing. After seeing this post I got a call from my friend asking for a help,to help her sister suffering with mental health condition. I am not a doctor / therapist but I explained my lived experience and made her to understand that she is not alone, it's universal and mental health illness is curable. She got some hope after many days of suffering alone and thanked me with relief. In these way going through depression made me a better listener and a good friend.

Again once after I directly wrote in response to a real - life question in a group , i got a message in my inbox from fb user ( mutual in social media group) sharing her number saying that she saw my response & needed a help. Without any second thought I called her and I learnt that she needed a help after self harming attempt. I helped her to accept her condition, seek therapist in intense and be patient with herself in healing. I checked with her after somedays and she told me she is doing better & joined her work. It gave me a life time satisification of saving a life. Having been knocked down myself , I am much more likely to extend a helping hand to those have lost their balance. And writing and reading served me as a reminder that personal struggles are universal. When shared widely, they create connection, allowing people to see their own experience reflected in someone else's words.

POV : We don't always have to project an image of strength, sometimes the bravest thing we can do is admit that we need support.

By embracing openness & empathy, we can create a society where mental health is treated with the respect it deserves, and where no one feels alone in their struggle.

With love

Ms. Sindhu.