What can we learn from the story “Riya, Age 22”?
From the book – Chapter 1: What Is Mental Health?
Riya, Age 22
Riya used to enjoy college and friends. Over three months, she began sleeping late, skipping meals, and missing classes. She felt tired, irritable, and “empty.” She told herself, “I am just lazy.” Her marks dropped. Friends said, “You have changed.”
At first, Riya avoided talking. Then one friend listened without judging and suggested she speak to the college counsellor. The counsellor explained that prolonged low mood, loss of interest, and sleep changes can be signs of depression, not laziness. With counselling, support from family, a better sleep routine, and later a psychiatrist’s advice, Riya slowly improved. She learned that asking for help was a sign of strength, not weakness.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 1: What Is Mental Health?
Stories from real life
- The Quiet Room at Number Twelve – Meera was sixteen and, until about two months ago, the loudest person in her house. She sang while doing homework, argued about cricket with her brother…
- What Will People Say? – Rohan, thirty-four, was a sales manager in Pune who had not slept properly for months. He woke at four every morning with a racing heart, snapped…
- Missing Her, Slowly Healing – Mrs Annamma Joseph was seventy and had lost her husband of forty-five years in March. By June she was still crying most evenings, and sometimes she…
- The Headaches That Had No Field – Ramesh, forty-eight, farmed three acres in a village in Vidarbha. After two failed monsoons and a loan he could not repay, he began to complain of…
Shloks
- Bhagavad Gita 2.38 – Holding pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal, prepare for the work in front of you; thus, you will not incur wrong.
- Sushruta Samhita, Sutra Sthana 15.41 – One whose fundamental energies (doshas) and digestive fire are balanced, whose tissues and eliminations work well, and whose self, senses and mind are clear and content,…
More on this topic: What is mental health? A simple guide to the mind and who can help
More questions
- What can we learn from the story “The Uncle Who Only Said “Tension””?
- What can we learn from the story “Lamp And Clinic In The Same Week”?
- What can we learn from the story “A Child Who Would Not Go To School”?
- Understanding simple meaning of mental health
- A second definition – simple meaning of mental health
- Key points – simple meaning of mental health
- A tighter clinical definition – simple meaning of mental health
- What is the difference between mental health and mental disorder?
- Diagnosis is a map, not a mirror – mental health versus mental disorder
- Why mental health matters?
- Psychologist, psychiatrist or counsellor – what is the difference?
- Early warning signs of mental distress