“There’s nothing quite as intense as the moment of clarity when you suddenly see what’s really possible for you”

The importance of clarity never gets enough credit for just how life-changing it can actually get. Aakriti* got to experience its effects first-hand.

Aakriti, 25, is a Business Analyst at a Bangalore based Unicorn. When she approached YourDOST in May 2019, she had been experiencing some major upheavals in her life, which had affected her severely.

“I was experiencing a lack of self-confidence and was unable to raise my voice towards things that seemed wrong to me“

In fact, so intense was her distress that she had started feeling suicidal. This was the red flag that led her to book an appointment and meet with YourDOST’s Lead Clinical Psychologist, Mr. Chandrashekhar Tiwari.

There was a constant flow of suicidal thoughts in my head, pushing me to seek help

A lack of support from friends and family didn’t help either.

Family and friends were not always available. That is what drove me to seek help

Chandrashekhar immediately noticed the symptoms of depression she was displaying.

When she first came to me, she had been experiencing, pervasive sadness, lethargy, anhedonia (The inability to experience pleasure), depressive cognitions, and crying spells, apart from suicidal ideas

Chandrashekhar advised and urged Aakriti to meet with a Psychiatrist which she did and was prescribed some medication. In therapy, Chandrashekhar chose to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – a form of therapy that focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions (e.g. thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) and behaviours, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems.

2 sessions later, Aakriti was already displaying signs of improvement and was able to distract herself from constant negative thoughts. She has successfully overcome her suicidality.

Over the next few sessions, Chandrashekhar and Aakriti explored the relationship between her thoughts, behaviours and emotions. They also worked on identifying her cognitive distortions – exaggerated or irrational thoughts that cause one to perceive reality inaccurately, and exploring how to effectively challenge them.

After 4 months of therapy, Aakriti emerged with renewed vigour, clarity and confidence. She felt confident that she could deal with stressful situations in a better way.

Therapy helped me fight my way back into normalcy. It helped me analyse my situation with me as the central point of focus and helped me distinguish between my temporary thoughts of suicide and reality of it

All credit goes to Aakriti who chose to fight her issues head-on and sought help. She’s quite thankful to Chandrashekhar for his expert intervention.

Chandrashekhar is a very calm and patient therapist. He listens to me with utmost empathy. He doesn’t give me advice, rather he hints at my options and lets me pick my way

It takes a lot of courage to openly share something so personal. We are really grateful to Aakriti for not only trusting us in her time of need, but also sharing her story to inspire a lot of others who’re still unsure if counseling can help them or not.

*The client’s name has been changed to protect their identity at their request