Seeking comfort in depression

Reality bites

Counsellors are much sought after professionals in the City nowadays. Now that the results are out, almost all counsellors in the City claim there’s been a marginal increase in the number of cases which come to them. Besides, most of the time those seeking counselling don’t stick to a particular counsellor but knock several doors before they finally find solace.

The counsellors say that those who come to be counselled appear to be impatient and don't return to them after two or three sessions. Rarely does one complete the entire session. This could either be because of the inefficiency of the counsellor or that the depressed just can’t trust anyone enough. “It takes a lot to earn their trust. They must feel comfortable to open up to you. If they don’t respond then we refer them to some other counsellor specialised in the area in which the person needs counselling,” says Divya Bajaj, Director Miracle Foundation. 

M Prasad, another counsellor with the Shakti says people who come in for counselling don’t want to come to terms with reality, “they don’t want to face facts. They hit the rock bottom the moment we tell them the truth. They have to undergo a whole personality change which most people are not willing to do,” reasons Prasad.   

Counselling has everything to do with psychology. You have to first convince the inner self. Those who have gone in for counselling say that it takes a minimum of two months get to acclimatised to the counsellor to be able to open up.

Rohit sunk into a depression soon after he flunked his second pre-university. “It was terrible. I was being blamed for every little thing and those closest to me were most unreasonable. I had to go through five or six counsellors before I returned to normalcy. That’s the time we need support and when you don’t find anybody you can trust, life becomes meaningless,” says Rohit.

 Sandhya John was treated for depression for seven months. She recalls that she too did her rounds of the counsellor and lost close to Rs 40,000, “When you are struggling to come to terms with reality that’s when you feel most isolated. Your lifestyle isolates you and friends turn their back on you.

That was my situation,” says Sandhya. She reasons that multiple counselling is more reassuring than going to just one or two people. “Not every counsellor is reasonable. They get harsh when you fail to see reason. Only a handful of counsellors I’ve come across are patient and polite,” she says.