Thoughts — Research

(Trigger warning: mentions abuse; suicide; substance abuse)Patriarchy is a societal system that puts men in a position of power and women in a weaker position, to add to it, it does not consider the fact that various other gender identities exist. It goes without saying that this sort of a society puts a lot of mental and emotional pressure on anyone who does not identify as a man. It further forms a rigid dichotomy of gender roles which are hard to break. However, in this blog, I want to look at a side of the story that is not spoken about...

In India, gaining weight is seen as a bad sign. I’m sure many of us have heard the sly “oh, you’ve gained weight, who will marry you?” or “log kya kahenge” if we seem to have gained a few kilos. That one sentence might make us feel embarrassed, angry, sad and hurt. It might even hurt our ego enough for us to decide to diet – to show them that we can do this. We can lose weight and we can become thin. But in order to get thin and get those compliments from the outside world, we end up...

Compassion fatigue, in very simple terms, is an extreme amount of distress that one experiences out of constantly caring for another. Also called vicarious trauma or a secondary trauma, compassion fatigue is what happens when a person experiences acute symptoms that put their physical and mental health at risk . This tends to make them worry about giving and caring. This is often noted in individuals who are in the caring profession such as doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and in individuals who are caregivers. It can even extend to those who experience a high level of empathy...

The mind and the heart have been at war since the beginning of time. Their conflict is at the crux of human decision making. Each constantly struggles to overcome the other. When we think about the idea of our emotions getting to us, we are most likely to think of an emotional breakdown, maybe an episode of crying publicly or a bout of uncontrollable anger. We can never accurately judge how strong a hold emotions have over our actions. The following excerpt from Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence (1995) proves to us how dire situations can become when emotions get...

Have you ever said to yourself “ugh not this again, I suck at this!”? Personally I’ve felt like that with a lot of situations in my life – from dealing with something as small as math to other bigger, more stressful situations I’ve faced . I’ve failed at it so many times, had so many bad experiences that it feels like there’s no point in trying anymore – until I look back sometimes and realise that there was a way I could’ve done better but I felt so trapped in the moment that I didn’t even consider that option. Learned...