Need for more Counsellors, than Doctors

Stress is the No.1 killer of the 21^st century. This is the phrase we hear, quiet often nowadays.  So, what is this stress? Well, while there are so many definitions for stress, putting it in simple words, “Stress is the difficulty; a person faces to cope up with a challenging situation in life”.

 

Doctors confess that more health problems that they diagnose today are owing to mind related issues such as stress, anxiety, depression etc. A number of diseases such as heart attack, blood pressure, diabetics, head ache, mouth ulcers, insomnia and many more are now attributed to stress.

 

So, where does stress come from? It comes from all sides and in all forms, right from our corporate life to our family life. Wherever we are and wherever we go, there is a lot of expectation from us, and we in the process of trying to fulfil these expectations end up getting stressed. Right from young school going children to old people, stress seems to have spared no one.

 

Well, how does one cope up with stress? There are many advice from experts, right from engaging in some physical exercise, doing yoga and meditation, going to a spa, engaging in social activity, reading self-help books, listening to music, engaging in a hobby of your interest and so on. While I agree with all the above, the best way I feel a person can relieve his/ her stress is by talking to people, whom they can trust. When we are going through a challenging situation in life, we all feel a need to share it with someone who is willing to lend an ear, and listen empathetically to your situation and also give you the courage to face the situation in an appropriate manner. Sometimes, all it takes is a little reassurance or a friendly advice.

 

In earlier days, we had such a supportive mechanism in the form of joint families, where members of the family had an opportunity to share their problems, anger and disappointments with fellow family members and seek solace. With families becoming smaller, and everyone in the family pursuing their own careers, there seems to be a constraint of quality family time. The next best option was our close set of friends, to whom we could share what is going on in our lives. But the sad truth is that, they too do not find time to listen to our story. They themselves have a lot of issues to face and they are in a hurry. This does not make it conducive for us to open up ourselves, freely to them.

 

Everyone is in look out for someone, whom they can fully trust and confide their thoughts and feelings without being judged, commented or ridiculed. It is in this scenario, that the role of a psychological counsellor comes to play. A counsellor is a neutral person. He is there to help us. He is not judgemental. He gives us a patient listening. He gets paid for his time and his expertise in helping us open out ourselves. By way of questioning, he helps us to introspect and gain a better clarity of our own situation. Quiet often we are blind to our own fault and our vulnerable areas. The counsellor helps us become aware of our stumbling blocks and aids us in making the right decision. By doing so, he helps us feel much better and gain a better perspective of life.

 

When such sort of help is available, why not take it. What is holding us back? We are all conscious about our physical health. If we fall ill, we go to a doctor and take the needed treatment. But when it comes to mental health, we do not take the effort to address them. Stress is a mind related issue and a little help from a counsellor, will make us feel much better. But somewhere, we have wrongly learnt that sharing our problems with others is a sign of weakness. It is not true. Also, there is a lot of taboo, associated with visiting a psychological counsellor. People think only mental patients are taken for psychological counselling.  Again, it is not true.

 

Counselling is just, “helping by talking”. All of us need this sort of help at different points of time. Let us be bold to address these issues, by talking to a counsellor, rather than allowing it to pile up, and ultimately resulting into serious health related problem. If you are going through any stress or mental agony, don’t hesitate to take the help of a counsellor. It will definitely do you a world of good.

 

In my opinion, the world today is in need of more counsellors than doctors, because most of our present day health problems are mind related. We have heard this age old quote, “a healthy mind in a healthy body”. The reverse sounds even truer, “a healthy body is a result of a healthy mind”. So, if you need healthy body, take care of your mind.

    D. Senthil Kannan,

    Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

    Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

    Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com