Do you feel that’s it impossible for you to ever see happiness again? Do you seem surrounded by complete darkness? Does your brain always tell you that there is nothing left in your life? Do you feel that your mood will never improve again? Does your mind and body feel numb? Trust me, you are not alone. Millions of people are suffering in the same manner.

But wait, its okay for all of them to suffer, right? Because as a society we will never acknowledge mental health. Yes, our ego and self respect is more important than another person’s life. Others can kill themselves out of depression but we being their so called ‘close ones’ will never allow them to speak up just because we fear the society. We fear the label of ‘Pagal’ or ‘Psychologically ill.’ The question is then what’s the difference between us and murderers?

Both of us make others suffer to an extent that they give up on their lives and ultimately die! We see their sufference with our own eyes but never lend a hand to them and yet when they die we feel upset. Why? Because we are the reason they died in the first place. What would it have costed us if we could have uttered just a few consoling words to them that could have eased their emotional pain? Steeping to an even lower step than this, we could have just listened to their problems silently, without even saying anything. Even this minor act would have been impactful as it would have allowed them to express their bottled up emotions in a safer manner as compared to taking drastic measures such as ending their life. Believe me, it would have helped them enormously!

So all of you out there, let’s get together make a promise to ourselves right now that from today onwards we will never turn a blind eye towards a person suffering from psychological pain. We will not fear the societal pressures. Instead we will help others in every possible manner. The least we could do is to listen to them and refer them to professional psychologists at Pukaar who are readily available to assist them in multiple ways and help them become successful people who lead fulfilling lives beyond societal pressures.

Written By: Rida Irfan