Sunshine, healthy food, and exercise help this writer tackle dysthymia
The Hindu
A description of dysthymia and what this writer does, to keep the shadows behind her
Trigger warning: This article contains material related to suicide and mental illness. Discretion is advised. I sat in a psychiatrist’s room at one of Delhi’s best known mental health facilities. Surrounded with drawings by children, most happy-looking pictures, I told the doctor my ‘case history’. As a health journalist I had done enough stories over the years to understand the importance of including everything, to maximise my visit and my treatment. I was determined to stay in control. ‘Anorexia’ she jotted down, with a few more symptoms. Even as she wrote it down, I wondered if I should reiterate that I had it in school — at 17, when I believed I was fat. I wasn’t. I want to tell her that while I had always had a bad relationship with food, the anorexia had never recurred. Like most people who don’t speak up because they assume they’ve got it wrong, I let it be.More Related News