Varshith Finally Turns His Back to Substance Abuse

“The bleak optimism has skewed the overall views of our societal perspectives on substance abuse.” – Asa Don Brown.

According to a study finding, it was revealed that nearly more than half (55.6%) of the male adolescents reported the use of one or more substance in their lifetime. Varshith had gone down the same lane due to some serious reasons. Growing up, 21-year-old Varshith had witnessed a very complicated family environment.

Nonetheless, Varshith is a person who enjoys playing sports. His favourite burn-out sports are badminton and cricket. Varshith belongs to a family where both the parents are government employees. Varshith left his home to relocate to IIT-Palakkad to pursue his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering.

“After passing class 12 and entering college, I was suddenly exposed to a lot of freedom.”

Varshith started developing some anxiety issues as he entered college. But instead of introspecting the same, Varahith gave in to the easier route as a result of the sudden splash of freedom. Soon, Varshith was throwing his head over heels to substance abuse.

Varshith developed this habit from the very first year of his college. But Varshith had a constant realisation of the amount of harm he can encounter by the same. So, from time to time, he would bail on it. But substance abuse, as the name depicts, would reel back in no time into his life only for him to drown even further.

“I had developed sleeping issues where I would be awake for 2-3 days straight and sleep only for 8-10 hours.”

As Varshith was retrospecting his extreme inclination towards it, he realised that he had been going through a very bad scorecard. His studies were being affected drastically when the fact was that studies should have been his primary focus. Soon, Varshith shared the same with his friends hoping for some change. But as it was very clear, Varshith needed a professional hand to hold on to, to come out of this loop.

“Once, I hadn’t slept for 2-3 days straight. In that state, I got into a very serious accident. It was terrible.”

Varshith decided that he needed help. He had realised the consequences of his substance abuse and how much trouble he could get into. So, without wasting much time, Varshith decided to seek help.

Varshith met Akriti from YourDOST who was a counselor. Varshith described his counselor as a very good listener. He felt even more warmth from the fact that Akriti was non-judgemental.

“Akriti guided me through a couple of breathing exercises and asked me to follow a routine. I was also advised to talk with my peers whenever I felt the need.”

After counseling, Varshith had developed the willpower to talk to other people about his issues. Varshith was also taking strong control over his anxiety which helped him get over his problem of substance abuse even better. By the end, Varshith extends gratitude to his counselor who helped him pave a way out of that loop of darkness. Varshith rates his overall progress through counseling with a solid 4 out of 5.

We, at YourDOST, wish him all the luck for the same and hope he makes it further into prosperity.

Varshith’s Warrior Tips:
1. Seek help early. Don’t wait for that push button.
2. Talking helps. Sometimes, it is better to seek help before it’s too late.

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