“Are you kidding me? Your blood pressure might have lowered. Have some jivanjal or salt-water.”“What? Really? But how?” “What went wrong? Tell me!”

These are some of the questions my sister and mom asked me when only I could clearly see symptoms of depression in me. One fine morning, I felt very empty when I woke up. My mind was blank. I did not know what to do.

I was restless. I wanted to cry, cry hard for no reason. At the same time, I was lazy. I did not want to get up from my bed. I wanted to lie there all day and do nothing. And I had no idea what was wrong with me.

I did not want to eat. (Well, my mom always shouts at me for sleeping till ‘almost’ afternoon.) But during that phase, I was like an insomniac acting like a maniac. I hated everyone. I hated people around me.

I did not want to talk to anyone. I wanted to be alone. Even when my close friends asked me something, I did not respond.