When you befriend a foe, life becomes a little simpler, wouldn't you agree? But when you befriend a foe like depression, life becomes a lot more simpler is what Shreya Nair discovered. When she was 21, Shreya was struggling with depression that was caused by something so common that it could happen to any of us — she parted ways with a beloved friend. "We had grown up together and were dependent upon each other, but life took us in different directions," says the 24-year-old and we can almost hear the sadness threatening to break her voice. But she took herself out of this reverie, just like she had the first time it hit her in full force.
After finishing her Master's in Mass Communication from St Francis College for Women, Hyderabad, she went on to work with Bigg Boss Telugu (season one), which took her to Lonavala. With her depression phase behind her and the fact that it was her first time away from home, Nair opened up, "thanks to the wonderful people around me, who tolerated my constant chatter," laughs Nair, who used to write the synopsis for every episode and also used to manage contestants for Bigg Boss Telugu.
It was after this stint that she wrote the book When Depression and I Became Friends: How Positive Can Depression Get, You Will Know, but shelved it because she doubted herself and her skills. But after attending TEDxVBIT in February this year and listening to talks, especially one by author Nikhil Chandwani, who later went on to mentor her, she was motivated to publish it with Educreation Publishing. "Without sounding preachy, I wanted to tell people how I dealt with my depression and how one must treat it as a friend, who brings out the best in you," says the Hyderabadi girl, about her book which will be launching tomorrow.
The book is divided into five chapters and writing them came very naturally, says Nair. She wanted to list the mistakes she did, advice others against them and tell people how to make friends with depression. "I suffered depression and I came out okay, and I'm sure that you will be all right too," is the message she wants to convey through the book. She implores us to focus on more important things — studies, career and the like. And though depression is all doom and gloom, her book has happy endings. Giving us a little hint, she says, "Don't go by the title of the book. There is a small twist to it.”
Ask her if she will continue writing and without skipping a beat Nair says, "Yes!" She even lets us in on what she has written about — dogs! "Something magical happened and I'm trying to find the right words for it," she says, adding that she has found a friend in her labrador, Bubble.
