SEEKING HELP IS AN ACT OF COURAGE There is pitifully little awareness about mental health issues in our country. According to the World Health Organisation WHO, depression and not diabetes or hypertension, will be soon be the biggest killer of the modern world. The general perception is that people are either mentally healthy, or nutcases, requiring psychiatric intervention. The truth is that many mental health issues are transient. They fall into the category of mental ‘sprains’ and not ‘fractures’. They can be healed with the help of a trained counselor. This book deals with subjects such as anxiety, depression, marriage, suicide, child sexual abuse, adolescences and stress. Based on actual case studies, the text is written in simple, lucid language, devoid of technical jargon. Most books in this category are useful as guides for professionals or students of psychology, who are well versed with theory but need practical insights. But this book is primarily for lay people, for them to obtain a better understanding about themselves and to provide insights to caregivers, who deal with the mentally unwell on a regular basis and consequently live in a continuum of stress. Above all, these pages provide a non-judgemental and refreshingly practical look at a subject that must become part of our collective understanding about human existence.