After all this, I would like to emphasize the point that mental illness can happen due to pure biology — due to absence of certain chemicals in our brain — and is just like any other disease. And they are not a mood matter. They are not created out of boredom, indifference or lack of motivation. It is a sickness that needs to be acknowledged like any other and not be blamed upon the victim alone. Depressed people are not weak, rather they are really the strongest since waking up every morning and staying alive is a big decision to make. Just as much as taking away one’s life needs immense courage, as a mental illness patient, staying alive needs courage too and even more to consult a doctor for it. And when everyone around you is hushing up about it and when you realise that people are not going to be the same to you anymore when they come to know about you, depression only seems like a cruel punishment. This is from the quote:
“Depression is such a cruel punishment. There are no fevers, no rashes, no blood tests to send people scurrying in concern, just the slow erosion of self, as insidious as cancer. And like cancer, it is essentially a solitary experience; a room in hell with only your name on the door.”
-Martha Manning, Undercurrents
Remember, anyone and anybody can get depression at any point in their life and it is not just a phase. It can be helped and it can get easier with little acts of kindness everyday and zero amounts of indifference to it. We don’t think twice to help a blind man cross the road or open the door to the person in a wheelchair. But the same kindness is not shown to someone who is struggling with himself/herself everyday. When someone has bad days persistently or asks silly doubts in class, it just means they are really doubtful about their own existence or are unsure of everything in life. Why can’t we help them by being a little kind to them?
[pullquote]Anyone can get depression at any point in their life and it is not just a phase. It can be helped and it can get easier with little acts of kindness everyday and zero indifference to it.[/pullquote]
Another issue I would like to point out that crops up when there is a need to destigmatize mental illness is romanticisation of mental illness. About how cute or beautiful it is to wanting to tread a different and unconventional path (that is to choose not to live, or an angel leaving the Earth if that’s what they call), to draw art by harming oneself (crying through the skin is that’s how they term it), etc. Any of the mental illness is not a joke or something to feel happy about it. Struggling to deal with the darkness of one’s mind and trying the heck to stay afloat at 3 AM alone in the hostel room is not easy. Dealing with the panic attack that makes your hands shiver, heart beat faster, sweat your hands out and make you stammer is not funny. Not being able to live with the fact that you didn’t wash your hands in the last 15 minutes is not just a harmless Monica Geller-OCD. Feeling a wave of anxiety that your classmates are making fun of you and wondering what you did wrong when someone didn’t stop by to greet you is not wanting too much attention. Anybody who has gone through any of this can tell you that there is nothing beautiful, literary or mysterious about mental illness.
Any of the mental illness is not a joke or something to feel happy about it. Struggling to deal with the darkness of one’s mind and trying the heck to stay afloat at 3 AM alone in the hostel room is not easy. Dealing with the panic attack that makes your hands shiver, heart beat faster, sweat your hands out and make you stammer is not funny. Not being able to live with the fact that you didn’t wash your hands in the last 15 minutes is not just a harmless Monica Geller-OCD.
And on a final note, I would like to say that IITs, though the hotbed of immense competition and stress, are not the only ones to be blamed on this. We, society, as a whole should not turn a blind eye to this. We should give this issue a thought before making harrowing judgements on mental health patients.
If you’re a person with mental illness reading this, whether an IITian or a non-IITian, fret not because this can be dealt with and you are not alone. Remember, I cleared the toughest examination on this planet even without knowing I had the illness. So stay strong and keep moving forward. If you are an outsider wanting to know about the situation in this institution, just look at the situation of mental health awareness at your own place before sending out judgements about the IITs. And If you are a student/parent/professional — inside or outside IIT– who knows someone dealing with mental illnesses, please be patient enough to lend your kindness and support to him/her.
