Life is bigger than a game

Every now and then we hear about people giving up on life. Recently it shook me when a close friend called it quits leaving behind an uprooted family – a little kid and a heart wrenched husband. Depression: it’s one of the major problems in our society and is as deadly as AIDS or CANCER, albeit it can be treated if accepted in society.

Attempts to end our life are countless. It doesn’t have caste, creed or class. It doesn’t bother with color or age or sex. Anyone and everyone can fall prey to this dangerous world of depression. Statistics shows that the younger crowd are more prone to give up on life.

So what is the reason that any human at a juncture in life chooses death over life?

• Is it because we do not find a solution for a problem in our life.
• Or is it because we find our solution to be like quick sand?
• Or is our lives filled with problems?

Buddha rightly said ‘Desire is the root cause for suffering!’ Desire might be to have a high career, desire to have a perfect family, desire to have a life without shouldering responsibility for someone, desire to have a better home, desire to be a better person, desire to have financial independence. Desires create problems. Problems can be many a types- financial burdens, emotional imbalance, broken relationships, broken families, responsibilities, career growth. Each of us have our own set of problems, problems which life throws at us. It’s like a game and we can win only if we know how to duck in time when the ball hits our face. But is desire the problem? In fact desires must be present. The issue here is inability to handle situations which comes due to unfulfilled desires.

Why are we unable to handle our problems?

• Is it lack of patience? Do we have enough patience to accept failures? Do you ever accept your mistakes in handling relationships? Do you think you always give your 100% to achieve your desires? Do our children have tolerance for things around them?
• Is it lack of experience? Do you really analyze the real cause of failures and learn from it? Have we seen others battle through similar problems? Do our children learn to handle difficult situations with other people? Do we let our children play with one another and go through a lot learning? Are we killing their experiences by letting them play with artificial things and never interact with real people?
• Is it absence of understanding? Are we able to understand one another? Do our children know to accept ‘no’ for an answer? Do we let our children fail? Do we help them to accept failures and to understand that life is more than one situation alone? How do we feel if we get ragged or bullied regularly?
• Is it low confidence? Are we confident to voice our opinions? Do we struggle to say things which we find are incorrect? Are we scared of people’s reactions?

How do we spot if we or someone else is fallen prey to such situations or problems?

• Mood swings: Sudden anger, happy one moment, extremely sad the other
• Erratic behavior: Keeping aloof, not wanting to talk to anyone
• Simple things appear complex: 2+2 suddenly doesn’t add up to 4
• Feeling of ‘Good for nothing’

Do you find yourself saying ‘Yes’ to most of the above?  It’s time to reach out for a little help. Help from a friend you trust, help from a colleague you trust, help from a family member you trust, help from the society, help from a counselor, help from a doctor. Ask for it without thinking twice.

Your life is above all these problems and only staying alive and time will solve it. You have a right to live and you are as important as everyone else. Remember! Life is bigger than a game!

(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.
Helplines:
AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours)
Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours)
Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours)
iCall: (555)123-4567 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00 am to 10:00 pm)
Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm – 8 pm)