Essay: Of Thriving After Surviving

Khushi Barman shares a heartwrenching piece on battling with mental health and the journey of overcoming it against all odds.

Trigger Warning: This article talks about depression, CPTSD, bulimia, and anxiety, among other things.

Severe and debilitating depression and anxiety awakened me to, and from, a life full of complex trauma, and to the sacredness of the intense, deep-rooted, and primal urge to create.

I had been crying profusely and rather heart wrenchingly for some 30 odd days on a continual basis in the familiar corners of my room of many years, until one hot afternoon in July 2024, I awoke to a trembling body, obsessively racing and nightmarish thoughts, a heavier hole in the aching heart that could be felt more viscerally than ever and immense gloom, particularly distinctive from my earlier days of suffering.