Finding Strength Within

As I’m sitting down after, listening to Deepika Padukone’s interview on NDTV, about her personal experience of depression, I’m moved to the point where tears are rolling down my eyes and I feel an immense sense of respect, admiration for her.

I look back at my life as a Psychologist, where clients chose to trust me with their deepest vulnerable selves, I realize how most of them have moved on to a better space, where they are more in charge, have dealt with past baggage and chosen to turn their vulnerabilities into their strength. The interview was a reminder of how some clients have said exactly the same words that Deepika narrated.

Sometimes depression or anxiety leads a silent life, within us. We choose not to acknowledge it, as we believe it as a phase that would pass. As the Psychologist Guy Winch says — We cannot just shake off the depression, it needs to be handled and managed. Most clients show immense resilience and inherent strength that comes to life as we begin to deal with the layers of depression in therapy. A client whom I worked with, a few years back, told me how depression was a blessing in disguise. It reminded her how there were ways to fight it and choose a life where one is more in touch with oneself.

I’m often asked how I can distance myself from all the pain and sadness that clients bring in to therapy. The answer is quite simple actually — my clients also bring a deeper sense of hope, resilience and an ability to fight back, which makes me admire the human spirit even in moments when they are fragile.

We all feel vulnerable, and awareness of this vulnerability is our strength. Our strength to heal, to find meaning in moments of despair, and most importantly, as Deepika did, bare one’s personal journey so as to heal many others.