On numerous occasions she mentioned she was contemplating suicide, I suggested she should go seek help.
KARACHI: This is with the reference to the report in your magazine titled Dealing with the depressed parent by Tehmina Khan (September 17).
I believe that if there is an air of depression at home, the entire atmosphere is affected by it. It is even worse if the head of the family is under stress because it prevents him or her from giving proper attention and love to those younger to them, especially to their children.
Depression creates problems for every member of the family and results in a drift where close family members slowly and gradually move away from one another and lose the emotional connection. One of my cousins went through a similar experience. Her parents had a conflicting relationship where they would fight on a regular basis, their arguments used to put them in a bad mood which would eventually affect her. She was a girl who used to be laughing all the time and always in a playful mood but eventually she lost the spark of happiness.
On numerous occasions she mentioned she was contemplating suicide and I suggested she should go seek the help of a psychologist. She was reluctant only because she was afraid that if anyone found out, she would be referred to as a mental patient. This is the dark and ugly side of our society — instead of helping people, it tends to degrade and humiliate them and as a result a person suffering from something as severe as depression, sinks deeper into this hole.
Sumera Arif
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2014.
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