Depression Is A Thief
Do you have an encounter with the demon of depression? Did it try to overpower you? Did it make you feel alone? Is it getting on your nerves? If yes, then you might be looking for something to run away from it. Don’t let it push you to hurt yourself. It won’t go away like this. Look for the people to talk to. Call for help. Rescue yourself from this evil spirit. Don’t be afraid, if you don’t have someone. SAATH is with you. We created SAATH with the mission of helping the youth in their fight against the depression, and provide free counseling services to improve their mental health. The main aim of Team SAATH (Sameia, Wahab, and Sammra) was to spread the message “Communicate, Not Isolate.”
The university students and those who are about to enter in their higher education are majorly suffering from depression. As highlighted by Malik (2018), our social system is responsible for this increased number of depression patients. This system has failed to develop a measure for making the children’s personality strong through effective counseling. Therefore, our target population was youngsters who are in their early adult transition phase, i.e.,16 to 24 years and those who are in the period of forming their life structure, i.e., 24 to 28 years.
In accordance with the mission of SAATH, and our plan for creating awareness about depression, and providing counseling to students; we started our work by developing the session content first. For this purpose, a meeting of 2 to 3 hours was scheduled thrice in a week at the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (UVAS). We used to discuss the key points first and after a day plan a meeting again to share what we searched, and provided factual support to our content with valid reasoning. As an individual, each one of us has weekly spent 24 to 26 hours for effectively and efficiently carrying out the project tasks.
Online Campaign
We first initiated the awareness campaign with our Facebook page SAATH. The first step was to communicate what depression is? Next, we move towards a depression test; it helped people in analyzing their level of depression. Meanwhile, we also kept sharing about other details like symptoms and causes. In the next step of the campaign, we started sharing tips to bring positivity to life. We also used Whatsapp and our personal Instagram accounts to share awareness about depression.
Soon after our campaign, we started to receive words of encouragement from various people on Facebook. We were happy to read their reviews and messages as they conveyed that our content is affecting people out there. We were able to evaluate the effectiveness of our message through their responses.
In-Person Counseling Sessions
After a successful online campaign, the next step was to go to the educational institutions and deliver our message personally. Team SAATH was already working on the content, so we thought to create a small presentation covering all significant aspects, i.e., what depression is? What are the symptoms and causes of depression? How is depression different from sadness? And how to cope up with depression? We also added the responsibility of a person if he observes that someone in his circle, suffering from depression.
The content was ready, now we were up to get permission for carrying out the in-person sessions. After taking the permission letter from Amal Academy, we approached the institutions that we targeted in our earlier blog. At first, Team SAATH emailed the universities and presented the proposal for the social cause. We contacted the University of Lahore (UOL), National College of Business Administration & Economics (NCBA&E), Crescent College for Boys, GIST Academy, PICS Academy, and Himayat-e-Islam College. At first, all these institutions agreed to give us some time, but here comes the challenging part.
Crescent College’s coordinator assured us of a session and asked to wait for 4 to 5 days as the principal was not available. After waiting to 4 days, we were refused by giving the reason that “Our students’ exams are near and we don’t want to distract them and let them engage in such activities.”
We then called the resource person from GIST Academy, and he gave us a positive response. We were further told to come in-person and discuss the whole content with the principal in detail. We went to the academy, waited for more than an hour and then got the chance of presenting the theme and content. This time we were refused in a different way. The person from GIST refused by saying “Your content is about depression, it’s a sensitive topic. After hearing this lecture our students will start considering themselves as patients of depression. Why don’t you prepare some lecture related to their exams.”
We were disappointed after endless rejections. While we were sitting in UVAS and discussing, what should we do next, Wahab (member of Team SAATH) received a call from Himayat-e-Islam College. They agreed to provide us the opportunity for discussing the issue with their students. We were really excited about the first session. After reaching to college we personally met the principal, he was a bit reluctant at first but later upon discussion supported us. I along with my team was all set to have our first in-person session with the last year students of DAE (Diploma of Associate Engineering).
Wahab began the session. He started with the purpose of conducting the session, told them about Amal Academy, and introduced Team SAATH. He further explained depression and how does it exactly looks like. He also helped the students to differentiate between sadness and depression. Sammra then took the lead and described the types, symptoms, and causes of depression. She tried to communicate the concepts by connecting emotionally with the students.
We also planned to engage the students in some activities to relax their mental state. This is where Sameia’s (my) role started. The students then practiced meditation to have a relaxed mindstate. After the little activity, they were told about coping strategies, how they can help others who are suffering from depression, and how they practice to have a positive mindset. The session was also ended by a positive affirmation activity. Students repeated ten times that “I can do it!”
At the end of the session, we were really amazed to see the response from the students as they had so many questions. Their interest in our session was reflected through their questions. The session was ended with a thank you note to the students and faculty of the college. We were honored that the faculty members made sure that student stayed well-behaved during the session. After the session, students gave us their feedback and handed over a sheet with their contact details by saying “Please keep us updated about any further sessions.”
Mega Session
While we were creating online awareness about depression, we came to know about the session of a psychotherapist, Ms. Jahan Ara Rana at Qasim Ali Shah Foundation. Our team member Wahab attended her session and discussed with her the work that we are doing. She agreed to help SAATH by chairing a session on depression. The moment she agreed, we decided to have a mega session in which she will be the guest speaker.
As I was still in discussion with UOL and NCBA&E, I remembered a teacher of mine at NCBA&E. I called Dr. Ghulam Abid and discussed my project with him. Dr. Abid referred me to the Director of Career Development & Alumni Resource Department (CDAR), Ms. Iram Saba. I went to the university, discussed with Ms. Iram the details of our session, and told her that instead of planning a simple in-class session, we expected to have a big session. I further told her about Ms. Jahan Ara Rana. It was just like I am presenting a business proposal. The CDAR department forwarded my request to the Dean who again had a meeting with me, and finally, we got approval for the event. The happiest thing was CDAR department professionally collaborated with SAATH.
The next task was to contact Ms. Jahan Ara and inform her about the details. She kept her promise and agreed to give a free lecture on depression. Managing an event, and coordinating with both parties is something that requires all your time and patience. The students at NCBA&E were going to have their mid-term exams in the coming week. No teacher was agreed to leave her class. This was the most challenging part of the mega session. Finally, after all the coordination and organization, team SAATH was all ready to start the marketing campaign of the event. We created a facebook event and spread the message to around 500 people. People were contacted through Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and through personal messages.
So, finally, the big day was here. We wanted to give our best as City 42 was there for the event coverage. Therefore, Team SAATH again divided their duties and planned to carry out things accordingly. I was dealing with the CDAR department and also hosting the event. Wahab was the in-charge of photography and logistics, and Sammra was doing the live coverage of the session for our Facebook page. Besides, Sammra was also part of the procurement team.
All the students and faculty members were welcomed to the session which was succeeded by the recitation of the Holy Quran. The audience was then briefly told about SAATH, its collaboration with NCBA&E, and last but not the least, they were told about Ms. Jahan Ara Rana. Meanwhile, the feedback forms were also distributed in the start to avoid any nuisance during the session.
Our invited guest speaker was then called to share her views about depression, its causes, and how it can be avoided. Ms. Jahan Ara perfectly demonstrated how depression looks like. She further added that in Pakistan over 43% of children are suffering from depression. It’s not just youth who’s experiencing, the children are also haunted by this beast. She also told the students to stay healthy as it’ll reduce their stress level and have a calm sleep for at least 6 hours. Ms. Iram Saba was then called to bring the session towards the closing end. She beautifully explained the remedies to avoid depression.
The session was ended by providing a shield to the invited speaker and a group picture with all smiles. While going out of the Hall, students were also asked to leave their feedback forms on the desk. When developed these forms just to get feedback from them, so that in case of any mistake we can improve further.
This one mega event of Team SAATH has opened the door of so many other opportunities. After the success of the event, the Dean of NCBA&E personally requested to us to engage the students of her university into such activities. She also referred us to one of the medical health alliance of NCBA&E, E-Clinic.
Our next session is planned at the University of Lahore in the 1st week of April, right after the mid-term exams of the students. In addition to Ms. Jahan Ara, our session helped us to connect with Rtd. Col. Zulfiqar Ali Khan, who is also a psychotherapist by profession. Moreover, the discussion with KIPS Academy is also going on, and we are hopeful that they will also give us permission.
Team SAATH has not just limited this social work to the completion of the project, rather we are putting all our efforts to design a website where people can easily and anonymously contact us and share their feelings with you. Another plan that is lined-up is the “Bake Sale.” The team is planning to carry out a book drive on Sunday, 24 March 2019 and earn at least 2000 for giving it as charity. All we hope is to carry out the of the events as the way we planned.
Let’s hold each other’s hand in their fight against the depression. May the smile prevails on every single face!
