"The
only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to
be."
When
I was studying Medicine at the famous King Georges Medical College in Lucknow, way
back in the late seventies, we (my colleagues and me) were trained to be kind
and compassionate to the patients we treated, as part of our education ,because
we were taught they were in a lot of physical pain and agony and needed
our kind healing touch and treatment. Gradually with the passage of time, the
focus of treatment shifted to Good Holistic Health which included emphasis on the
importance of Good Mental Health as well Good Physical Health.
Later, while practicing as a doctor I
found that many patients who came for treatment and investigations for their
ailments, used to be very stressed and anxious, for multiple reasons. Either they
were worried about their disease, or the cost of treatment entailed or the
repercussion it would have on their family. This stress compounded their
illness and made it worse!
Many a time the patients suffered work
pressures, peer pressures, family tensions, financial strains and so on, and
these constraints made them so stressed that they had headaches and burn
out, which further deteriorated their work performance, and this made them more
stressed. A vicious cycle followed, which could not be relieved by any
medication, no matter which brand or how much. Psychosomatic disease is the
term given to such ailments-which simply means—body symptoms due to mental
stress!
As my children were growing up through their
adolescent years, I encountered many of their friends and numerous other
students who were stressed/ depressed ,due to a plethora of reasons like peer
pressure, parental pressures, self –expectations leading to pressures, academic
pressures and so on-the list is never ending. This large chunk of
stressed youth had no one to turn to for help, as their parents, who were
believed to be the natural support systems for children some years back, were also
in the same boat as their children today, and were very stressed and disturbed,
lacked adequate parenting skills and were not able to communicate rationally
with their children. All these factors resulted in the children moving away psychologically
from parents and family into the clutches of addictions and substance abuse.
The situation had catapulted from bad to worse.
Parent -child conflicts were rampant, relationship
issues were so common and divorces were taking place at the drop of a hat, road
rage, anger and aggression reigned supreme in the family and on the roads .What
was happening to the society and in the society was beyond anyone's
comprehension. The saddest part was that children and the youth bore the brunt
of all this and had no one to turn to for help or guidance. They instinctively
turned to their peers for support who led them to maladaptive coping.
Stress, I found was the root cause of all
these maladies .If people knew how hazardous stress could be to their mental
and physical health, if youth just understood that stress could lead them to
drugabuse, alcoholism, depression, and many more such maladies, and if
they were AWARE and EMPOWERED that Stress could be Coped and Prevented
and told How they could do so, their life would be stress-free, anxiety- free,
happy and they would be able to live a
more work productive and enriched life.
At this point I took up the challenge of
doing this and founded PARI FOUNDATION a NGO which is an Acronym for
Psychological Assessment And Rehabilitation In --all people, especially
children and youth. Our NGO uses the tool of CBT---Cognitive Behaviour
Therapy--and empowers and educates youth that their THOUGHTS are completely in
their control and by changing/shaping
their thoughts they can change their attitude towards a specific problem
thereby countering or overcoming it successfully. Thus they can PREVENT
BEING IN STRESS.
PARI FOUNDATION focuses on
SELF-IMPROVEMENT with the help of CBT.
Our
Destiny , we advocate, is not in the hands of any supernatural power, as
we were made to believe in, by our fathers and forefathers. We can ALL shape
our destiny the way we want it to be, just by focusing on the quality and quantity
of our thoughts and changing them accordingly. This is self-empowerment and
works wonders and keeps stress at bay. This is also ‘adaptive coping.’
PARI FOUNDATION has worked with thousands
of students in hundreds of schools in India, in and around DehraDun ,UP and we
are rapidly moving on to newer horizons. We have empowered hundreds of youth to
PLEDGE AND SAY NO TO STRESS AND DRUGS. Technology has been a boon for us and
has helped us dramatically in our endeavour to reach out to more and
more youth all over the country, Students attend our LIVE-workshops
,have Interactive sessions with our team, whereby we help them think
differently and find rational solutions to numerous problems which plague them,
thereby helping them ward off the stress. Internet services made available far
and wide enable us to talk to youth even in the remotest areas by
e-conferencing. Skype sessions with students who need them, e-mails, mobile
chats and messages, further ensure that students can reach us easily. Our videos/films/questionnaires
help students gauge their stress and anxiety levels and they find quick
remedies on our website, at the click of a button.
Our aim is to have stress free and happy society which will
automatically be more efficient and work productive. Stress-free people can work
better and harder and sustain themselves and their families in a much more
conducive way. We believe that rather than being stressed and then learning to
manage it—let us all --PREVENT STRESS .This is also our motto and it is 100%
possible today. Awareness and Empowerment are the keywords.
Dr.Sona Kaushal Gupta
Neuro-psychologist
Founder Director PARI
FOUNDATION
www.parifoundation.com
9411028002
parifoundation@gmail.com
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