SLC-S29|W5-Mind & Learn : The Psychology Journey "Overcome your Depression"

Depression is becoming one of the most common disorders to Gen-Z . One of the most common reason for depression is not involving in physical activities and not sharing the problems with others but another common reason for depression in young generation are those exams for which they dedicate there whole life and at the end they fail. In this post I have highlighted some of the reasons for depression and steps to control. I am thankful to @memamun for organizing this contest.

🧠 The 5 second rule: I heard this rule from one of my friends and he told me that if I wanted to get up early in the morning and when the ring of the alarm bells for the first time and I opened my eyes then get up from bed within 5 seconds or otherwise the brain will make an excuse and let me to sleep again. Following this rule helped me to achieve this goal and I really felt very happy at that time and it was the first impression of the day and the first positive thoughts for me to achieve.

🍔 Not Consuming Fast Food: As being a University student fast food becomes very common in my daily routines and it harms health silently. But today I promised myself not to consume it and the goal was achieved successfully.

💡 Buying a New Tripod for my Videos: This was one of the happiest moment for me. My University classes were off and I went to the market to purchase in new tripod stand for my Videos. As just the night before the first day I watched a short video while searching about different types of tripod stand and I watched stand which was a tripod as well as a selfie stick and I wish to purchase that but I don't want to take the risk of online order. I physically went to the market and after wandering through several shop I purchased it. And I have also explain it in the video and this was one of the pleasant moments for me.

🔬 Buying Glass Slides: It was the first time when I was buying something new for me that I always whished to buy and it was a box of Glass slides that I have been watching since my childhood and I always thought that they are only available to the professional doctor and any non professional civilian can't even buy them but this time I was going to purchase them for my own use. Further explanations have been added to the video.

🦓🦒 Visiting a Zoo: After getting free from my University I visited the Zoo where I recorded a video and captured many pictures which have been shared in answering the task 2. It was a pleasant movement for me and I was very excited because it was the first time when I visited the zoo and the happy part was I visited it for a purpose.

🚴‍♂️ Cycling for about 30 KM: I went to the zoo using my bicycle and I reached there within 35 to 40 minutes. It was another action or thought or task for me that enhanced the positivity of my mind and brought pleasure to me.

📙 Studying Books: On the second day I learnt some of the new keywords using English dictionary and a very famous book Wren & Martin and it was also an objective goal and also a co-curricular activity which is not the part of my course of content but the main purpose was to learn something new which is not related to the course contents.

📃 Completion of Documents: Alhamdulillah I have secured fully funded scholarship at the University. But the final documents submission process is very tough that most of the students were not even truly comprehending that what they have to do for their submission of documents as because of their confusion and a long processes of attestation but on the third day I have completed all my documents and I have reviewed them from my seniors and teachers which is a big achievement for me on the third day.

📚 Getting access to the Library: On the third day I became the first student of my class to access the full facilities of our university library. Because this is the start of our second semester and no student has official access to borrowing the books because of their first semester freshness. But Alhamdulillah I tried my best and filled and attested the application form and finally submitted to the library to access books officially.

In order to try something new or special I made up my mind to visit a beautiful and quite natural place in my region that is Bahawalpur Zoo. It is a beautiful place and it was established in 1942. The total area of this zoo is 25 acres and it has rare species of animals. My experience and glimpse of the zoo are below.

Some of the highlighted photographs have been listed below. I visited every single cage and so many rare species of animals and birds. I captured only limited number of pictures.

The good thing is I covered the distance from my University hostels to the bahawalpur zoo on my bicycle whose one picture have also been listed. This activity added more pleasure satisfaction and sense of achievement that day.

Explaining every single picture might lose the interest of readers of my this post therefore I suggested myself to make a comprehensive video so that readers can enjoy the real moments of the zoo. Comprehensive video in English language with the moments of various animal is below.

1️⃣ Change of Environment🏞️: Visiting the Bahawalpur Zoo completely and totally changed the environment around me. Vast parks, cages, and green trees were everywhere inside the walls of the zoo. It was also a new mental stimulation for me. For the depressed people, it is a breathe taking place to visit.

2️⃣ Physical Movement🚶‍♂️: By walking through the zoo, I got much physical movement that activated my body. No doubt, I felt tired but a long walk put positive impression on body. A long helped to get tired, I slept early on time and then awoke up early with fresh mind on the next day.

3️⃣ Animal Interaction Effect 🐒: I was exposed by animals. Naughty, calm, tricky, brave, and sharp. They all were different from each other. This interaction helped me to observe nature from a close distance. Moreover, my thoughts were shifted towards complete positivity.

4️⃣ Social Exposure🤝: There were many people around me but I was not forced to interact with them. I was not alone too which means my loneliness was away from me. This was a stress free interaction on a public place.

5️⃣ Mindfulness Training 🧠: This visit enhanced my observation .My exposure to new species of animals raised my curiosity and then I observed them continuously. It was certainly a mindful training for me. Quite calm and simple observation but smile on my face.

1️⃣ She stayed Silent: Maria kept on getting frustrated day by day by listening the unnecessary comments of her family and close relatives but she did not raise her voice. She just kept in bearing those comments which became a cause for her depression.

2️⃣ She tied her entire worth to one exam result: Usually in my country Pakistan the cases of tieing their whole life with a simple MDCAT test. Same the case is here. Maria just tied her entire life with a simple HSC exam and losing that exams lead her toward depression.

3️⃣ Running away from home without plan: She ran away from her home and returned after a while but the guilt became more severe as a result she committed suicide.

1️⃣ Equating marks with Value: Her family kept on giving value to her according to her marks which means her marks became the criteria for the judgment of her performance in every field of life which was an injustice to her by her family.

2️⃣ Constant Criticism: Constant criticism by her family made her more depressed and instead of supporting her they kept on decreasing her mental caliper by criticizing her on regular intervals. It was the worst mistake made by her family.

3️⃣ Forced Marriage without Her Consent: Her family forced her to marry without her consent and this depressed morals once again. As the result sheet in away and then got toward suicide.

4️⃣ Ignoring the clear mental signs: As Maria kept on breaking the things that was the sign of mental problem but her family ignored this and instead of taking her to psychiatrist they imposed the burden of her marriage with no consent on her.

1️⃣ Building a support circle: Her family should build a strong support circle around her because sporting her and the time of breakdown was the best step to normalize the situation.

2️⃣ Delaying all major decisions: There were some decisions if delayed could be normalisation and marriage was one of them because for girls marriage means living the home of their father and marriage without their consent means an injustice. So, her family should have to delay all the major decisions including her marriage and the decision of pausing her education.

3️⃣ Immediate mental health checkup: the sign of decreasing mental health was clear and her family should have to take her to a psychiatrist for a better treatment but they possessed her by pausing her education and getting and deciding to get her Mary without her consent. And start taking her to the hospital or psychiatrist for a mental health checkup was the best option to take.

4️⃣ Choosing alternative Academia: After scoring low in HSC exams her family should have to enroll her in some side diploma and other courses.

5️⃣ Listening to her instead of controlling: One of the best steps during her declining condition was to listen her carefully that what she wants. But her family tried to control and I think instead of controlling her, listening to her was the best option.

At the end, I would like to invite @bhaiaslam, @maryam86 and @adnanliaqatali to join this contest.