This is the story of George. A simple young boy, who can be
anyone of you. It was 2000. High school time. George was having a torrid time
with life. Constant pestering and bullying by his classmates was making life
hard. His physique had become a matter of joke for most of his classmates.
There were frequent uncharitable comments about his body.
George had a hormonal condition, where due to excess of
female hormones in the body, adolescent boys develop breasts like girls. Add to
that the sensitivity and low self esteem, genetic gifts from his parents worsened
the situation even further. He was a butt of jokes in his society where he
lived and his only relief from mental torture was sports viewing and his Maths coaching
classes, two things he was good at.
The beginning of all this mental abuse started with
relatives, as it happens in most cases of mental health abuses. On an early village trip when he was a mere
teenager, his cousins, the combined IQ of whom would not touch one-tenth of his
intelligence, made fun of his body and amused themselves. George being
sensitive and lacking in confidence, was shaken by that. Being a catastrophizer
(one who fears the worst in all normal situations), like his parents again, it
really shook up the guy bad. No one tried to help me, and mental health being a
taboo subject in society, he was left alone to fight his demons.
Things improved a bit in college with few close friends in
life. However the constant fear and negative self body image made social life
tough. There was constant bullying, as people tried to take advantage of the
situation and show him down. The lack of sensitivity to and awareness about
mental health and ways to improve that meant George kept all the fear, anxiety
and the anger within himself. Add to that stupid teachings of religion and the sky
daddy, which propagate happenings as a result of past actions, guilt took the
place of what should have been common sense.
However George deep within himself had a strong urge to win.
He was a dreamer, and fantasized better things for him, though the present
looked bleak. No amount of fear could lead him to give up on trying to make
things better. He wanted to be a champion, he loved champions and those fellows
don’t have the word “give up” in their dictionary. Despite all the fear and
anxieties, George saw excellence in tough competition as a way to enhance his
fragile self esteem. He made it to the best professional colleges in the country.
Bullying at college and work made him realize
that simple fact that one needs to be strong and avoid showing any weakness, as
they would definitely be preyed upon. He better get strong for the society will
not be easy on him.
Things finally got
better when he sought professional help and exercises to take control of his
mind and the demons inside that. George is doing much better now, and things
are looking up for him. He is a good friend and I wish him only good things ahead.
However as I finish this
story, I was going through the suicide figures for India and the world in 2013.
Over 1.35 lakh people in India and around 8 lakh people globally commit suicide
every year. The lack of societal awareness about mental health and social
support to people who are mentally weak, are big issues for any country and the
world as a whole. It is time mental health is taught in schools and children are
equipped to deal with stress and anxiety issues. Not everyone can be strong like
George, as these figures show. We need to show more empathy towards those who
are suffering and help them. After all, the success of any society hinges on
how it treats those who are the weakest or need the most help. Hopefully we can
see these figures go down in the future, and mental health become a subject of
logical discussion, rather than a stupid taboo.
