Our Stories
Stories Of Transformation
Stories Of Transformation
Case 13
After getting diagnosed with diabetes at the mere age of 9, Aditya* found it difficult to engage with his peers and had significant social anxiety. Now, a 25-year-old had issues with his emotions for a long time that were standing in the way of his goals. He told us that he had struggled with anxiety and depression, affecting him socially. He also had a significant fear of being perceived in a negative manner. His struggles and his fear made him avoid and miss important events in his life like birthday parties or other special occasions and often turned down invitations that required him to engage in groups. His reluctance to spend time with his friends made him feel like some of his friends were “giving up” on him. In addition, he also felt like he was burdening his friends because of his issues which didn’t let him stand up for himself causing trouble. The intensity of his social anxiety reached its peak as he was unable to find work and his social work was non-existent. He had several fears which all revolved around being embarrassed in front of others. Along with everything, he also felt like he was depressed and wasn’t interested in his life after he graduated from college. He said he oscillated between not sleeping and sleeping too much along with having a difficult time concentrating on things. Besides a general lack of energy, Aditya* also expressed feelings of “heaviness”, guilt, and worthlessness. Once he described everything, one of our psychologists psycho-educated him that he was depressed and what social anxiety meant. The therapy process with Aditya* revolved around increasing emotional awareness, increasing his ability to think differently in different situations, identifying where he was avoiding his emotions, and focusing on preventing the same. At first, Aditya* was hesitant about change and the psychologist encouraged him and showed him the advantages of getting better and dealing with his difficulties. Towards the end of therapy, once he started getting better, Aditya* could notice he went out more with his friends and increased his social interactions, and engaged in activities that he wouldn’t have gone to before. Once he started exposing himself more, his self-confidence and self-worth also improved. He slowly reached his goals in therapy and told us that he felt like a completely different person- someone who is more positive, confident, and assertive during his termination. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 14
We’ve all been warned of the negative ramifications of alcohol at some or other point in life. Whether you take heed to it or not, is your choice. One such person who made his choice was Arun*. Arun* came into our clinic needing help for his alcohol addiction. Once he was allotted one of our psychologists, he revealed that his addiction issues were the tip of the iceberg. A 47-year-old man, Arun* struggled with depression, and amnesia found it difficult to cope with his everyday life, was lonely, and told us that he heard voices. He also said that when he tries to let go of his alcohol addiction, he tends to be aggressive and has cravings, blackouts, and withdrawal symptoms. He said that while he was struggling internally, he had good relationships with his wife, children, and work. He’s also had normal friendships as a child, teenager, and young adult. His first depressive episode was when he was 25 years old and right now, his most prominent depressive symptoms were feeling irritated, inability to make decisions, fatigue, guilt, difficulty motivating herself to perform daily tasks, loneliness, social withdrawal, and a loss of pleasure. Initially, when Arun* came in, he refused to acknowledge that he was an alcoholic due to the shame and stigma associated with it. So, our therapist first started out by helping him accept that he was an alcoholic but that recovery is possible. Once Arun* saw himself as an individual who needs to be accountable and take responsibility for his own actions, he also saw progress in himself. He started being mindful of his impulses and his thoughts and emotions. This reduced his fear, frustrations, paranoia, and most of his depressive symptoms. Somatically, his body aches and high blood pressure also stopped and he completely stopped drinking. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 15
Sreeja* was a 20-year-old who found herself tossing and turning in bed when she was 17 years old, unable to sleep constantly. She couldn’t relax, or sleep, found it difficult to concentrate, and had constant headaches and a low self-image. She also had intrusive thoughts and images and didn’t know what to do. She went for a physical checkup to see if there was a physical issue but all her reports were normal. Baffled, she turned up at our centre. Once she started her sessions, she started sharing more and opened up about her childhood experiences. She presented symptoms of an anxiety disorder and after a general diagnostic process, it was found that she had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety. The next few sessions focused on bringing awareness about her disorders and how they can proceed. She started having intense therapy sessions where she started following her thought processes and behaviors. Once she could identify them, she could comprehend that her intrusive thoughts about being ‘a victim of an acid attack or a geyser blast’ contributed to her low image and it was God’s way of punishing her for caring about her appearance. Our psychologist helped her realize that her thoughts didn’t have to turn into action and that being hyper-aware of herself was not helpful. By helping her record her thoughts and feelings in a thought log, our psychologist helped her navigate and reconstruct her negative and intrusive thoughts into more helpful thoughts. Over time, Sreeja* improved considerably in her negative thoughts, intrusive thoughts, and behaviors. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 16
We all panic when we don’t find our keys or forget to check if we’ve switched off the electrical appliances at our house. However, Pradeep* found himself with palpitations and checked himself into the ER after having severe difficulty breathing. The physician had referred him since he couldn’t find any medical explanation for his symptoms. On speaking with Pradeep*, we found that he was struggling with the same thing for the past 6 months. Whenever he felt panic, he also had heart palpitations, chest pain, sweating, and shortness of breath. Constantly getting worried, he tried to avoid things that triggered his fear and significantly impacted his life by turning down social invitations, making excuses to stay at home whenever possible, and relying on his wife for any outdoor activities for his kids, Although she was understanding initially, she had become frustrated by his “irrational fear” of panic attacks. After coming to our center and speaking with our psychologist, Pradeep* was given a thought log which helps identify situations in which the possibility of panic was high. He was also taught progressive muscle relaxation techniques (JPMR) which helped him become more and more relaxed as the sessions progressed. He was also taught applied relaxation where he was taught to relax in the presence of panic cues and also in real-world potential situations where panic is likely. To help him modify his catastrophic thinking in potential panic situations, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was implemented. Within 6 sessions, Pradeep* reported significant improvement and had follow-up sessions to terminate. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 17
Heena* had significant stomach issues for over four years. After going from doctor to doctor, and taking multiple tests, no report mentioned any physiological problems. Hailing from Yemen, she witnessed the civil war of 2015 when she was home alone with her younger siblings. Being the parent of the house during war conditions as her parents couldn’t return from their travels before the onset of the war, she took on a lot of stress. Her stomach issues started then along with other severe symptoms. She had come to India to seek medical support for her physiological symptoms and came to us when she found no solution to her struggles. Once she briefed her psychologist about what was going on, they focused initially on speaking about her trauma as she revealed that she wasn’t speaking to anybody about how she was feeling. She was in denial of the pain she went through and suppressed it too. After 2 sessions, she finally opened up about her family issues and how the war affected her. Despite all of this, she was extremely high-functioning. She was good at her job and could take care of herself and be responsible for her chores. Heena* was given some activities as homework like having some me time, practicing mindfulness, and spending time with friends. The other sessions focused on her constant worry about her family members and work life, which contributed to her pain. Heena* was then psycho-educated about the connection between the brain and stomach and the inevitability of stress and pain. With the help of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, they came up with a coping strategy of a compassionate inner dialogue to tell herself that she’s doing her best and that’s good enough. Some breathing exercises and other techniques were also implemented which helped Heena* look at her pain in a different light and not be in denial any longer. After almost 2 months, Heena* improved significantly and was able to manage herself, and her family issues and improved her understanding of pain. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 18
Anagha* was in her 10th grade when her parents got her to the centre stating that their daughter was blanking out during exams. Anagha* talked to our psychologist in private where she revealed that if the question and answers are direct and she knows the answer, she doesn’t have any issues but panics when that’s not the case. This panic makes her scared and she forgets everything she learned along with what she described as “hearing her heartbeat in her ears”. Once they began sessions, Anagha* was made to address her anxieties relating to examinations and introduced mindfulness techniques as homework. The vicious cycle of anxiety (getting anxious and being scared of your anxiousness and getting more anxious) was explained to her. Once Anagha* understood where her problem was, she was more relaxed and open to working on herself. Relaxation techniques like mindful breathing, progressive muscle relaxation (JPMR), and visualization techniques were explained to her. Over the sessions, she was encouraged to identify her automatic thought process and its consequences. This helped her identify and label her thoughts and use strategies to help her cope with them. Their sessions helped Anagha* tremendously and they started seeing each other much less frequently. (*name changed for anonymity)
Stories Of Transformation
Case 11
We all go through times when thoughts tend to overwhelm us, but what if these thoughts and images were so intrusive in nature that it manifests into physical symptoms such as trouble falling asleep, an inability to relax, difficulty concentrating, and low self-image with somatic complaints of headache? Well, that’s what 20-year-old Natasha* was going through when she came to us. What seemed to aggravate the situation was the fact that she believed these thoughts were true and lacked proper awareness. Natasha* went through various medical examinations that did not indicate any physical basis for her concerns. Not getting any respite for her condition, she came to The Mind Research Foundation in order to seek some clarity as to what was going on with her. The initial therapy sessions with Natasha* started with forming a mutual bond with her and understanding the nature of her thoughts and how her experiences in her childhood have shaped her as a person. Post this, it was identified that Natasha* had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Natasha* was initially psycho-educated about the disorders and the importance of medications and therapy to help her manage these. Even though she opposed medications, she was open to therapy and it was initiated by giving her a thought log to write about her automatic thoughts and behavior. After she was able to pinpoint the automatic thoughts, emotions, and behavior she had, it was discovered that Natasha* went through intrusive thoughts of being the ‘victim of an acid attack’ and a ‘victim of a geyser blast’ that will blemish or damage her face due to which she constantly seek reassurance from her parents regarding her low self-image. Natasha* repeatedly experienced thoughts that if she paid attention to her appearance only, then God would punish her by making her the victim of an acid attack or geyser blast. After listening to and thoroughly understanding her thought patterns, our psychologist began by teaching her formal mindfulness techniques in order to promote relaxation in her. As for the repeated intrusive thoughts, she was again psycho-educated about thought-action fusion which is the tendency of individuals to assume that certain thoughts increase the likelihood of catastrophic events. It was further taught and normalized to her that the occurrence of intrusive thoughts is irrelevant to taking any further action against them and that being hyperaware is not really helpful for her negative thoughts. As the sessions progressed, Natasha* was able to restructure her thoughts to more helpful ones which hence reduced her seeking reassurance from her parents. Now, Natasha* is doing much better and there is more than a considerable amount of improvement in her negative and intrusive thoughts and reassurance-seeking behavior (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 12
This is a story that every parent could relate to, whose kids are getting trapped in the clutches of the internet. Karthik is a 14-year-old teenager whose life existed around the internet. His indulgence led to a drop in grades, sleeping late, frequent fights with his parents over the time spent on the laptop, and limited interest in any other physical or social activity. His parents reached out and booked an appointment with us for him. The psychologist enquired about the usage of the internet by the whole family, current ground rules, and what other activities the adolescent was interested in. The psychologist encouraged the parents to learn about positive discipline, keeping in mind the teenage period. They were motivated to law down some ground rules which would be applicable to the whole family like a time limit on the usage of the internet, spending time with family, etc. The psychologist had a healthy conversation between the parents and Karthik* so that he understands the reasons behind the changes and how they would further benefit him. Negative discipline in the form of taking away the laptop or disconnecting the internet was discouraged by the psychologist as it would increase the gap between the parent and him. It would further boost behaviors that would be unsuitable for him like going to a friend’s place on the pretext of studying and ending in playing a game or two. Obedience comes with respect and mutual respect was something that was stimulated by the psychologist. The parents were advised to spend quality time with their son like playing a video game so that the child feels that his parents are ‘flexible” and “cool”. This further helps the parents to reach out to their son more effectively. It was also advised by the psychologist to ‘let go’ of the child and let him learn through his mistakes and face the repercussions so that he could grow and learn from his own mistakes. Karthik* showed tremendous improvement and was able to restrict himself to the time allotted for internet usage and the parents too felt that the gap had been filled as their child started spending some quality time with them. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 13
After getting diagnosed with diabetes at the mere age of 9, Aditya* found it difficult to engage with his peers and had significant social anxiety. Now, a 25-year-old had issues with his emotions for a long time that were standing in the way of his goals. He told us that he had struggled with anxiety and depression, affecting him socially. He also had a significant fear of being perceived in a negative manner. His struggles and his fear made him avoid and miss important events in his life like birthday parties or other special occasions and often turned down invitations that required him to engage in groups. His reluctance to spend time with his friends made him feel like some of his friends were “giving up” on him. In addition, he also felt like he was burdening his friends because of his issues which didn’t let him stand up for himself causing trouble. The intensity of his social anxiety reached its peak as he was unable to find work and his social work was non-existent. He had several fears which all revolved around being embarrassed in front of others. Along with everything, he also felt like he was depressed and wasn’t interested in his life after he graduated from college. He said he oscillated between not sleeping and sleeping too much along with having a difficult time concentrating on things. Besides a general lack of energy, Aditya* also expressed feelings of “heaviness”, guilt, and worthlessness. Once he described everything, one of our psychologists psycho-educated him that he was depressed and what social anxiety meant. The therapy process with Aditya* revolved around increasing emotional awareness, increasing his ability to think differently in different situations, identifying where he was avoiding his emotions, and focusing on preventing the same. At first, Aditya* was hesitant about change and the psychologist encouraged him and showed him the advantages of getting better and dealing with his difficulties. Towards the end of therapy, once he started getting better, Aditya* could notice he went out more with his friends and increased his social interactions, and engaged in activities that he wouldn’t have gone to before. Once he started exposing himself more, his self-confidence and self-worth also improved. He slowly reached his goals in therapy and told us that he felt like a completely different person- someone who is more positive, confident, and assertive during his termination. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 14
We’ve all been warned of the negative ramifications of alcohol at some or other point in life. Whether you take heed to it or not, is your choice. One such person who made his choice was Arun*. Arun* came into our clinic needing help for his alcohol addiction. Once he was allotted one of our psychologists, he revealed that his addiction issues were the tip of the iceberg. A 47-year-old man, Arun* struggled with depression, and amnesia found it difficult to cope with his everyday life, was lonely, and told us that he heard voices. He also said that when he tries to let go of his alcohol addiction, he tends to be aggressive and has cravings, blackouts, and withdrawal symptoms. He said that while he was struggling internally, he had good relationships with his wife, children, and work. He’s also had normal friendships as a child, teenager, and young adult. His first depressive episode was when he was 25 years old and right now, his most prominent depressive symptoms were feeling irritated, inability to make decisions, fatigue, guilt, difficulty motivating herself to perform daily tasks, loneliness, social withdrawal, and a loss of pleasure. Initially, when Arun* came in, he refused to acknowledge that he was an alcoholic due to the shame and stigma associated with it. So, our therapist first started out by helping him accept that he was an alcoholic but that recovery is possible. Once Arun* saw himself as an individual who needs to be accountable and take responsibility for his own actions, he also saw progress in himself. He started being mindful of his impulses and his thoughts and emotions. This reduced his fear, frustrations, paranoia, and most of his depressive symptoms. Somatically, his body aches and high blood pressure also stopped and he completely stopped drinking. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 15
Sreeja* was a 20-year-old who found herself tossing and turning in bed when she was 17 years old, unable to sleep constantly. She couldn’t relax, or sleep, found it difficult to concentrate, and had constant headaches and a low self-image. She also had intrusive thoughts and images and didn’t know what to do. She went for a physical checkup to see if there was a physical issue but all her reports were normal. Baffled, she turned up at our centre. Once she started her sessions, she started sharing more and opened up about her childhood experiences. She presented symptoms of an anxiety disorder and after a general diagnostic process, it was found that she had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety. The next few sessions focused on bringing awareness about her disorders and how they can proceed. She started having intense therapy sessions where she started following her thought processes and behaviors. Once she could identify them, she could comprehend that her intrusive thoughts about being ‘a victim of an acid attack or a geyser blast’ contributed to her low image and it was God’s way of punishing her for caring about her appearance. Our psychologist helped her realize that her thoughts didn’t have to turn into action and that being hyper-aware of herself was not helpful. By helping her record her thoughts and feelings in a thought log, our psychologist helped her navigate and reconstruct her negative and intrusive thoughts into more helpful thoughts. Over time, Sreeja* improved considerably in her negative thoughts, intrusive thoughts, and behaviors. (*name changed for anonymity)
Stories Of Transformation
Case 11
We all go through times when thoughts tend to overwhelm us, but what if these thoughts and images were so intrusive in nature that it manifests into physical symptoms such as trouble falling asleep, an inability to relax, difficulty concentrating, and low self-image with somatic complaints of headache? Well, that’s what 20-year-old Natasha* was going through when she came to us. What seemed to aggravate the situation was the fact that she believed these thoughts were true and lacked proper awareness. Natasha* went through various medical examinations that did not indicate any physical basis for her concerns. Not getting any respite for her condition, she came to The Mind Research Foundation in order to seek some clarity as to what was going on with her. The initial therapy sessions with Natasha* started with forming a mutual bond with her and understanding the nature of her thoughts and how her experiences in her childhood have shaped her as a person. Post this, it was identified that Natasha* had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Natasha* was initially psycho-educated about the disorders and the importance of medications and therapy to help her manage these. Even though she opposed medications, she was open to therapy and it was initiated by giving her a thought log to write about her automatic thoughts and behavior. After she was able to pinpoint the automatic thoughts, emotions, and behavior she had, it was discovered that Natasha* went through intrusive thoughts of being the ‘victim of an acid attack’ and a ‘victim of a geyser blast’ that will blemish or damage her face due to which she constantly seek reassurance from her parents regarding her low self-image. Natasha* repeatedly experienced thoughts that if she paid attention to her appearance only, then God would punish her by making her the victim of an acid attack or geyser blast. After listening to and thoroughly understanding her thought patterns, our psychologist began by teaching her formal mindfulness techniques in order to promote relaxation in her. As for the repeated intrusive thoughts, she was again psycho-educated about thought-action fusion which is the tendency of individuals to assume that certain thoughts increase the likelihood of catastrophic events. It was further taught and normalized to her that the occurrence of intrusive thoughts is irrelevant to taking any further action against them and that being hyperaware is not really helpful for her negative thoughts. As the sessions progressed, Natasha* was able to restructure her thoughts to more helpful ones which hence reduced her seeking reassurance from her parents. Now, Natasha* is doing much better and there is more than a considerable amount of improvement in her negative and intrusive thoughts and reassurance-seeking behavior (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 12
This is a story that every parent could relate to, whose kids are getting trapped in the clutches of the internet. Karthik is a 14-year-old teenager whose life existed around the internet. His indulgence led to a drop in grades, sleeping late, frequent fights with his parents over the time spent on the laptop, and limited interest in any other physical or social activity. His parents reached out and booked an appointment with us for him. The psychologist enquired about the usage of the internet by the whole family, current ground rules, and what other activities the adolescent was interested in. The psychologist encouraged the parents to learn about positive discipline, keeping in mind the teenage period. They were motivated to law down some ground rules which would be applicable to the whole family like a time limit on the usage of the internet, spending time with family, etc. The psychologist had a healthy conversation between the parents and Karthik* so that he understands the reasons behind the changes and how they would further benefit him. Negative discipline in the form of taking away the laptop or disconnecting the internet was discouraged by the psychologist as it would increase the gap between the parent and him. It would further boost behaviors that would be unsuitable for him like going to a friend’s place on the pretext of studying and ending in playing a game or two. Obedience comes with respect and mutual respect was something that was stimulated by the psychologist. The parents were advised to spend quality time with their son like playing a video game so that the child feels that his parents are ‘flexible” and “cool”. This further helps the parents to reach out to their son more effectively. It was also advised by the psychologist to ‘let go’ of the child and let him learn through his mistakes and face the repercussions so that he could grow and learn from his own mistakes. Karthik* showed tremendous improvement and was able to restrict himself to the time allotted for internet usage and the parents too felt that the gap had been filled as their child started spending some quality time with them. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 13
After getting diagnosed with diabetes at the mere age of 9, Aditya* found it difficult to engage with his peers and had significant social anxiety. Now, a 25-year-old had issues with his emotions for a long time that were standing in the way of his goals. He told us that he had struggled with anxiety and depression, affecting him socially. He also had a significant fear of being perceived in a negative manner. His struggles and his fear made him avoid and miss important events in his life like birthday parties or other special occasions and often turned down invitations that required him to engage in groups. His reluctance to spend time with his friends made him feel like some of his friends were “giving up” on him. In addition, he also felt like he was burdening his friends because of his issues which didn’t let him stand up for himself causing trouble. The intensity of his social anxiety reached its peak as he was unable to find work and his social work was non-existent. He had several fears which all revolved around being embarrassed in front of others. Along with everything, he also felt like he was depressed and wasn’t interested in his life after he graduated from college. He said he oscillated between not sleeping and sleeping too much along with having a difficult time concentrating on things. Besides a general lack of energy, Aditya* also expressed feelings of “heaviness”, guilt, and worthlessness. Once he described everything, one of our psychologists psycho-educated him that he was depressed and what social anxiety meant. The therapy process with Aditya* revolved around increasing emotional awareness, increasing his ability to think differently in different situations, identifying where he was avoiding his emotions, and focusing on preventing the same. At first, Aditya* was hesitant about change and the psychologist encouraged him and showed him the advantages of getting better and dealing with his difficulties. Towards the end of therapy, once he started getting better, Aditya* could notice he went out more with his friends and increased his social interactions, and engaged in activities that he wouldn’t have gone to before. Once he started exposing himself more, his self-confidence and self-worth also improved. He slowly reached his goals in therapy and told us that he felt like a completely different person- someone who is more positive, confident, and assertive during his termination. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 14
We’ve all been warned of the negative ramifications of alcohol at some or other point in life. Whether you take heed to it or not, is your choice. One such person who made his choice was Arun*. Arun* came into our clinic needing help for his alcohol addiction. Once he was allotted one of our psychologists, he revealed that his addiction issues were the tip of the iceberg. A 47-year-old man, Arun* struggled with depression, and amnesia found it difficult to cope with his everyday life, was lonely, and told us that he heard voices. He also said that when he tries to let go of his alcohol addiction, he tends to be aggressive and has cravings, blackouts, and withdrawal symptoms. He said that while he was struggling internally, he had good relationships with his wife, children, and work. He’s also had normal friendships as a child, teenager, and young adult. His first depressive episode was when he was 25 years old and right now, his most prominent depressive symptoms were feeling irritated, inability to make decisions, fatigue, guilt, difficulty motivating herself to perform daily tasks, loneliness, social withdrawal, and a loss of pleasure. Initially, when Arun* came in, he refused to acknowledge that he was an alcoholic due to the shame and stigma associated with it. So, our therapist first started out by helping him accept that he was an alcoholic but that recovery is possible. Once Arun* saw himself as an individual who needs to be accountable and take responsibility for his own actions, he also saw progress in himself. He started being mindful of his impulses and his thoughts and emotions. This reduced his fear, frustrations, paranoia, and most of his depressive symptoms. Somatically, his body aches and high blood pressure also stopped and he completely stopped drinking. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 15
Sreeja* was a 20-year-old who found herself tossing and turning in bed when she was 17 years old, unable to sleep constantly. She couldn’t relax, or sleep, found it difficult to concentrate, and had constant headaches and a low self-image. She also had intrusive thoughts and images and didn’t know what to do. She went for a physical checkup to see if there was a physical issue but all her reports were normal. Baffled, she turned up at our centre. Once she started her sessions, she started sharing more and opened up about her childhood experiences. She presented symptoms of an anxiety disorder and after a general diagnostic process, it was found that she had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety. The next few sessions focused on bringing awareness about her disorders and how they can proceed. She started having intense therapy sessions where she started following her thought processes and behaviors. Once she could identify them, she could comprehend that her intrusive thoughts about being ‘a victim of an acid attack or a geyser blast’ contributed to her low image and it was God’s way of punishing her for caring about her appearance. Our psychologist helped her realize that her thoughts didn’t have to turn into action and that being hyper-aware of herself was not helpful. By helping her record her thoughts and feelings in a thought log, our psychologist helped her navigate and reconstruct her negative and intrusive thoughts into more helpful thoughts. Over time, Sreeja* improved considerably in her negative thoughts, intrusive thoughts, and behaviors. (*name changed for anonymity)
