Narrative: The parents' marital discord caused a lot of unrest in the family

Abhay, a fun-loving and cheerful boy, completed his pre-university course and joined an engineering college. Abhay was happy to have achieved his goal of scoring good marks and securing an engineering seat in a college that he liked.

Everything was going well but after three or four months, Abhay found it difficult to cope with the academic pressure. He lost focus and began missing classes. Assuming he was being adamant and lazy, his parents reprimanded him and forcefully sent him to college. Abhay skipped college, hung around in some places until the evening and returned home. He was losing interest in everything. He neglected his health and hygiene, slept for long hours or just stayed in his room without speaking to anyone at home.

His mother, however, was sensitive enough to observe these changes in her son and she decided to consult a psychiatrist. After listening to the entire case history, Abhay's condition was diagnosed as depression. He was prescribed some antidepressants but the condition did not improve and Abhay remained in the same disheveled state of mind.

One day, unable to tolerate the constant nagging from his father, Abhay left home and went to stay with his aunt, who was very empathetic towards him. After a few days, Abhay shared his problems with her. On listening to his story, she understood that the real cause for Abhay's condition were his parents. Their marital discord caused a lot of unrest in the family. Also, the father's high expectations, constant nagging and criticizm made Abhay feel useless and worthless. The aunt gave him moral and emotional support that was much needed in this situation.

Over the next six months, Abhay slowly recovered and decided to continue his studies. His parents realized that they had to improve their relationship, and the father understood that he needed to stop nagging, and treat the young adult with respect.

In this story, Abhay recovered from depression, due to the emotional support, love and care that he received from his aunt, which was as effective as any therapy.

The treatment for depression is case-specific. Experts point out that a combination of medication and therapy is recommended in several cases. The efficiency of any treatment is, however, enhanced  by empathy, affection, support and understanding from family and friends.

This narrative has been created with the help of mental health experts by taking into consideration symptoms and accounts from a cross-section of patients. The story is not a case study of any one particular person but is meant to be representative of a person suffering from the disorder mentioned.