Imagine a therapist telling his patient that it is wrong to be gay. Shaming him for having kinks that he performs with the consent of his partner and asking him to stop watching international OTT content as they were fuelling his imagination. Imagine a patient crying her eyes out before a therapist, only to be cut short and asked to return another time as her time was up.
These are all real incidents that make you realise that while terms like ‘depression’ are finally gaining ground, the solution to them isn’t as easy as dialing a clinic and booking the first therapist who’s free on Sunday.
This Mental Health Awareness Week — May 13 to 19 — a Purbachal-based group The Mindful Project — says patients are often stuck in a maze when trying to access mental health support.
Firstly, there’s the problem of identifying an issue as psychological. Rahul Bagchi, the founder of the group, was himself sent from the cardiologist to neurologist to gastroenterologist and even ophthalmologist when he found himself shaking uncontrollably, getting vertigo, breaking down, and going without sleep for five days straight.
“They made me do brain scan, CT scan, ECG, EEG and asked me to get a Rs 1 lakh sleep apnea machine as I could have, apparently, died the next time I slept,” says Bagchi, who runs a digital advertising startup. “It was after wasting much time and money that I was diagnosed with panic attack. It goes to show how low mental health awareness is even among doctors.”
Once Bagchi was better, he began The Mindful Project to help others battling similar demons. “Mental help treatment can be a confusing, judgemental, and expensive journey. A 45 to 60-minute session with a psychologist could cost about Rs 2,500-plus and multiple such sessions are required,” he says. “I know people who say they cannot afford to have depression as they cannot pay for the treatment. We are offering free consultancy to anyone who needs guidance in these areas.”
Another hurdle patients face is if the therapist fails to validate their identities or preferences. “We’ve had patients who were shamed for being LGBTQ or guilt-tripped for having BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism) sexual preferences,” says Bagchi.
“We’re not disparaging these therapists. They may be helping a certain demography, but clearly, not all of them are affirming of all aspects of their patients’ identities. Even those with divergent experiences deserve a safe place to share without being judged,” says Bagchi. “If you’re not comfortable with your therapist’s approach, seek a second or third opinion. But don’t lose hope.”
The Mindful Project is creating a database of therapists who are affirming of various diversities. They hope to expand to a global database to reach out to maximum patients.
Therapy often works better if combined with complimentary activities. “I myself was told I needed to lose weight but the dieticians I found charged Rs 1,500 a visit. One of them quoted a package of over Rs 13,000! Yoga studios asked me to pay for eight sessions before even hearing me out. I was so unstable at the time that I didn’t even know if I could handle eight classes but I got no empathy,” says Bagchi. “So our group is also guiding patients on such affordable services as these,” says Bagchi.