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DEALING WITH DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

“The path to recovery was slow, but there was a final destination, and I did reach it with the help of many people.”

STORIES

WARNING: Some of these stories contain sensitive material. If you have dealt with or are currently dealing with any mental health disorder, please be aware that these issues may be discussed here.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, feelings, or urges, contact emergency services at 911, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or a qualified physician immediately!

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"As an Indian woman with very determined, accomplished parents, mental health is something we never mentioned in family discussions..."

"In my life, I have given countless apologies...and sometimes I've apologized for no reason at all."

Arushi Kumar

"Anorexia. Listen Baba, listen to the word..."

Anonymous

"Late night, I was walking home from the Perry Castanada Library at the University of Texas at Austin around 3:45AM with a couple friends after a night of studying..."

Anonymous

"There is a lot I have dreamt of doing, but my choices for short-term gratification have somewhat impeded me from reaching those goals."

A Sharma

"Like me, my mother was born in India. Also like me, my mother has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder..."

Anonymous

"It wasn’t until I started learning more about mental illnesses and mental well being that I realized I had been struggling with general anxiety and depression for a long time..."

Anonymous

"If you think of an average South Asian living in the United States, I’m sure most of us would assume they either work as an engineer, a doctor, a scientist or an upper position in a company..."

Payal Patel, LMFT

"I was five years old when my innocence was snatched away from me..."

Anonymous

"My initial thought when I felt the sadness was, “Oh, this is just me being a teenager.” Little did I know it was something serious…"

Anonymous

"I am a virgin. While, this may come as a surprise to some who think they know me, others may
have no change in their perception of me..."

Nailah Mulla

"My mother is physically and psychologically abusive toward me. Her mother and father were
the same way toward her and her sister..."

Anonymous

"What are your interests?" I was asked this seemingly casual question on a casual Monday afternoon..."

Vidhya Krishnan

"Depression and anxiety are difficult for me to describe or relive..."

Anonymous

"My mother's was a nuclear, dynamic household..."

Anonymous

"My grandfather has always been the single biggest role model in life..."

Anonymous

"It was starting. The moment I had been waiting for months and months had finally arrived..."

Dhruva Tangellamudi

"For two weeks in March of 2016, my life was confined to my bed..."

Vinesh Kovelamudi

"I'm a 22 year old Shia Ismaili Muslim woman and about to graduate from a prestigious college..."

Anjiya Nayani

"So many eyes you would think we're famous..."

Ghanshyam Mudigonda

"'Are you stressed?' asked the physician in his monotonous voice..."

Anonymous

"I've always been proud of my identity as an Indo-American..."

Anonymous

"When I started college I was in a major I did not like, but I felt weak in admitting I was not good at science..."

Mehvish K.

"Ever since I was a kid, I have always hated asking for help..."

Dhvani Mehta

"Going to a therapist was a sign of weakness and what I felt wasn't considered a 'real problem'..."

Anonymous

"I can't pinpoint the day when it all started; before I knew it, I was in over my head..."

Anonymous

"Mental illness is real. So is depression. And Suicide..."

Ketan Kharod

"My dad has always been a 'my way or the highway,' ultra-conservative, and devoutly Muslim sort of man..."

Anonymous

"Seven years ago if someone had asked me how my life was going, at the time I would've said pretty well..."

Vinita

"I was finally diagnosed with panic disorder when I was sixteen. Up until then I had suffered from nearly a hundred crippling panic attacks that compounded in impact. "

Anonymous

"My childhood was tumultuous due to several moves, lack of money, and a nasty divorce..."

Anonymous

"'How are you doing?' people usually ask, whether or not they know I've lost family recently..."

Abhijith Ravinutala

"Throughout my life, I’ve struggled in dealing with my own mind."

Anonymous

"It’s incredible how much mental anguish can be hidden under the veil of a warm smile..."

Shamis Khan

"The heroines in Bollywood movies had soft stomachs, curvy thighs."

Pronoma Debnath

"A sharp, stinging sensation disseminates as I run a blade across my forearm."

Saood Altaf

"For some people, weight is just a number, something in the back of their mind, or maybe even something that nags at them everyday..."

Anonymous

"When I realized I was selected for an extremely prestigious scholarship, I was happy for 20 seconds..."

Sailesh Kumar

"'Need-to-know Basis.' That's something you'd associate more with the CIA or FBI..."

Arpan Amin

Pooja Tanna

#BGSpeaksUp

"Ninety eight pounds. That's what stared back at me. Ninety eight pounds of skin and bones is what I had turned into..."

Vaidehi Gajjar

#BGSpeaksUp

“Leena… are you depressed?” My little brother had just gone through the diary my best friend in boarding school made for me.

Ravleen Kaur

#BGSpeaksUp

“Not only did waking up and going to school become a nightmare, but coming home became one too”.

Anonymous

#BGSpeaksUp

"One by one, the bangles come off, the sparkle from the nose stud disappears and the body which once was draped in rich colours is replaced with shades of white, grey and brown..."

Sejal Sehmi

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"We acted like nothing happened, even though, in that moment, I knew something wrong had happened."

Anonymous

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"The drinking and partying we did numbed the sting from the endless stream of professional and academic failures."

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"I'll never shake the feeling of shame that washed over me. Even now, as I recall it, I feel so small, so weak, so hopeless..."

Anonymous

Anonymous

"I’ve always believed in love. And now I’ve had it returned to me in kind, but there was a long period of time in my life where love and self love were ideas..."

Anonymous

"10 years old. When a girl is 10 years old she should be worrying about what color dress to wear, or how to do her hair. What she shouldn’t worry about? Her father."

Anonymous

"I have had an incredibly long and difficult journey with mental health and neurological issues over the past 42 years..."

Anonymous

"I always feared that I would be called weak if I expressed any vulnerability. So instead, I put on a “strong” face at all times..."

Natasha Devalia

"It’s a dangerous game I play – pushing, no punishing, myself to my mental limit..."

Anonymous

"If you would have asked me three years ago if I struggled with mental health, I would have given you a confident, almost arrogant "no"..."

Anonymous

"I managed to wake up every morning

get dressed, grab breakfast, and dash out the door

But it was a front. A facade. A routine..."

Ramya Chunduri

"I wish I had a different dad. I wish I was blessed with a dad who would take time out of his day to ask me “How are you?” instead of “Did you study today?”..."

Anonymous

"My friends slowly started to dwindle away and food became a source of comfort, 105, 110, 115.. I watched as the number on the scale increased and increased..."

Anonymous

"My life has been one long drawn nightmare. All the memories keep replaying like they’ve just happened yesterday..."

S. Sheela

"One of the things my mother has always emphasized is the importance of privacy, of keeping things within the family..."

Anonymous

"Living at home is truly such a nightmare. Sometimes it’ll be so silent that the volume of my thoughts magnifies..."

Anonymous

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"Competition may be perhaps one of the biggest driving forces in South Asia’s education system, but that’s certainly not the case in America..."

Anonymous

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"I forgot. I forgot about how he looked like until today. Only today, in this very moment, when I saw a picture of him, did I remember it happened..."

#ThriveAfterTrauma

"3 years ago due to some family issue, I went into a dark space. It was very rough for me, but I endured it all thinking that one day these thoughts will go away..."

Anonymous

Sindhu