Monday, 30 May 2022 | Aditi Arora
GUEST COLUMN
Aditi Arora
I recently took a trip to Mumbai, and might I add that it was a refreshing one. I roamed around free of a mask, without the bother of a smother. In fact my entire attitude to dealing with crowded places has changed. My new outlook to human contact, crowd and hustle bustle was a warm welcome even to myself. Covid has really made me see our country, its population and the management of people in a new way. As much as we cuss and crib about how dangerously occupied by humans every inch of our country is, it appears that it was these very people who braved the pandemic and probably have helped in defeating it for now. Is this bravery just a selective display of how logical and organised we are or are we really a nation, which understands the nuances of a post-pandemic world?
Lately, many of us in the field of mental health are noticing that normal folks are using a lot of technical psychological terms- especially those which describe a mental condition- rather loosely and without discernment. It does not stop there, there is now an explosive culture beginning to take shape where people are into self diagnosis. Before I explain the effects, I want to break this down to the basics. For example, if you manage to hurt yourself physically and somehow are not able to reach a doctor or a pharmacy, I suppose you do opt for some first-aid. This first-aid could range from ointments in your medicine cabinet to a basic painkiller tablet to bring about a temporary relief. So I am quite sure that many of you would agree to the point that the end game of any injury is to find repose to the prevailing situation.
Now let us now think of an emotional wound, for which you have no immediate reassurance. The course to heal you emotionally may be a long term plan which may or may not include medication. Also it may be that as a result of some trauma and developmental wounding, you have had to succumb to a psychological condition such as panic, being irrational, erratic or being ritualistic etc. Now I want you to imagine how limiting and exhausting it would be for you to go about your daily routine with anxiety, or a ritual/repetition due to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Now as a mental health specialist, someone with legitimate training and a degree, I can assure you that we ensure that the client/patient goes through a sufficient battery of tests and investigations before we assign a diagnosis. Now I must come to the point, and assertively state that I am beginning to see a trend where people are not only diagnosing themselves with little knowledge of the manuals (DSM and ICD) but also using the same to avoid performing at work. If you identify yourself with one odd symptom of anything that closely resembles a serious diagnosis from the world of psychology, that does not give you any license to not deliver at work, in the home or in your relationships. A lazy individual who lacks in being conscientious and enjoys his/her lackadaisical attitude to life and work, is one who is likely to hide behind a phoney label. Due to this unconscious behavior, many who are actually medically and professionally diagnosed suffer the consequences. This is similar to the famous Panchatantra story we have all read in our childhood of the boy who cried –‘wolf’. When the wolf actually showed up, no one believed the village boy when he shouted for help and hence got eaten up. So let this article be a small shout out to all those who are unable to get in shape, emotionally and mentally, to a full working routine. Try not to mull over your laziness but find ways to update your motivation levels. If nothing, take inspiration from the virus and how swiftly it is changing its course and how driven it is by the law of evolution to survive till it is termed as just another treatable ailment.
Nature has its ways to give us the pause we deserve, but it would be unfair and unethical to over extend the pause we all got during the lockdowns. It is now time to build a cleaner planet and that will surely have to begin with our thoughts. Let us bring humanity to a level that works beyond borders, where our compassion travels like the wind and our consciousness is a marker and a reminder to not be the same but be better. It is also now very important to work harder than before to build our economy that is heavily relying on a credit capital. Our mental health professionals are working hard to bring about the much needed relief and it cannot be done without the help and support of the people. So the next time you have a colleague who feigns an – ‘OCD or an anxiety disorder’ to excuse themselves, do support them out of their self-created crisis so that the ones who are actually pushing themselves despite their mental health burdens may feel safe and sustain their performance.
(The author is a Dehradun based psychotherapist trained at the University of Vienna. Views expressed are personal)
