DOST - A Mental Health Initiative
“The world is shaped by two things – Stories told and the Memories they leave behind”
– Vera Nazarian
Behind every story there is a person, for whom it’s not just a story, it’s an experience, it’s a struggle, it’s a battle, it’s one’s own life. We all are either doctors, or are soon going to be one some day. Every single lecture, all those discussions, every small thing sums up with the aim of healing a person, saving the LIFE. But somewhere between this cobweb of our every day struugle to survive and the plethora of possibilities to learn new things, we ended up caring about all the ills that we could see only through our eyes. Somewhere down this road we forgot, that we also are humans, we also have feelings, we forgot that we could be hurt without any visible cuts or bleeds.
In a profession where life and death have become part and parcel of our moribund everyday lives, I feel we have somehow forgotten about taking care of ourselves. We no longer have the time to sit down and talk about how we really feel, or simply about how our day has been. Gone are those days, where friends would actually be sitting together and talking about their lives. We all do talk about the fun things we did, the crazy people we met, the amazing experiences, but take a moment and ask yourselves, how many times have you actually talked about how you felt.
This is where Dost plans to come in and form a bridge to support everyone who needs help. We started off by asking people what they really expect from an initiative like Dost to do, collected feedback, held discussions and started off this project. We created a platform called Dost Stories where anyone could anonymously share their experiences. With the heart warming responses from so many students who showed unmatched strength in coming forward and sharing their stories with us, our hopes were escalated. Many more students came out and talked to us about seeking help.
With every passing day, we are trying to build the name Dost as one everyone can trust and rely upon. We encourage all our friends to come forward and seek necessary help. We are all here for each other and DOST IS LISTENING.
Dost holds various events and workshops from time to time, aiming to break the ice between people and try to show them how easy and fun it can be to just talk to others. It tries to promote among people to come out of their personel niches and interact with others. Here are some glimpses of various events