Dyslexia Association of India, Sector 18

I got into this cycle where I had the urge to fit in with everybody and the society around me and I very quickly discovered all the Waze ad which I was looking at myself and deceiving myself and the idea of self consciousness slowly crept in to me. I got so obsessed with even small things that this even started affecting my social activity and at some point of time they would have been complete social withdrawal and I would not have been able to face people and pressure if one of my colleagues who has been with Dr Singh had not referred me to him. The initial conversations with him seem to be extremely deep and I felt that maybe I'm not getting across and I did stop therapy for two weeks after my first two sessions but after that I realise that maybe I am rushing things because I want results very fast. My urge to fit in and urge that everyone has was so much that the pure pressure made me do unusual things and took a toll on my mental health. When you cannot fit into your community whether that is your group of friends your class or your neighbours or the people you are working with I saw that I had started doing things that were out of my capacity and liking and regard. Of course I found my place finally in the group and at what times when I did not get my place despite the efforts that I made and this must've driven me completely paranoid. I'm grateful that I went through a proper diagnostic assessment first where I saw what I had become and then went through therapy correctly and I'm also happy that I was able to see the logic to blend my thinking with my doctors thinking and was able to make small changes in small gains from which I came out. I'm very grateful to my doctor and as I was referred to him I will not hesitate to refer anyone else who may need any assistance from him.

I have truly become what we can call a pacifier because I was forever doing things for people and even if I was suffering I kept on doing it because I wanted to look good in their eyes, I was completely emotionally exhausted when I came to Professor Singh and I can tell you that What works for you works and you have to let go of what doesn’t. We must all learn that we should not be afraid of saying no to others even if they are very close to us as some of the things that people demand from others are so emotionally taxing that they are just not comfortable and we lined up making a mess of ourselves. I can say that after sorting myself out don't be afraid to say no to those tasks and politely let others know that helping them out is not possible for you at the moment if you are completely busy and tied up. You might like to help people or you might not but certain situations are more demanding. People can be weird and extremely selfish and they keep asking more of you to be it to invest more time and energy or to do things which you might not want to. In all of this, I find myself emotionally drained and exhausted. I have learnt over time how to say no and that's the beauty of boundaries where you can put boundaries with people or in general insure that you don't have to do it go on as much as they want and I have learned that there is a line beyond which you can't go and you have to go to stop for things. I'm really grateful to Professor Singh for being there and actually teaching me what to do by making a few calls to certain people on my behalf because I was so scared of the reactions that they would have.

Srishti was born following a normal pregnancy and her first year was unremarkable. As she began walking her interest in people and the environment kept decreasing and she stopped using the few words she had learnt like papa , mama. Our paediatrician said this was normal as some children develop differently. Her favourite plaything at this time was a small metal ring which was on the strap of my hand bag. She used to fiddle with it for long periods of time. The bag became so much a part of Srishti that when I would take the bag away she would start crying and it was inconsolable. But if it was lost she simply stood and screamed until it was recovered. She was also attracted to running water, loved watching patterns of light on the floor, and would happily stand watching the washing machine revolve. She was inexplicably terrified of the newspaper and the courier being put through the gate.By the time Srishti was 5 years old, family life had become very stressful, as Srishti was increasingly frustrated and destructive, and all trips out were abandoned. She showed little preference for any one person in particular, and if she wanted anything she would merely take and direct people's hands in the general direction of the desired object. She occasionally said words (e.g. car) but did not use them meaningfully and they were seldom repeated. She reacted strongly if anyone moved her possessions, and was distressed by any change, even, for example, if I her own mother changed her hairstyle. Her diet was extremely restricted and she ate only cornflakes without milk and buns with no butter; she preferred particular brands (testing by smelling them) and refused to eat other brands. An attractive child, with an intelligent expression, my daughter was physically strong and agile; we had been forced to place bars at her bedroom window to prevent her climbing out, as she was oblivious to the dangers of doing so.Even so the doctors said that all biological indicators were okay and some children are slow learners and talkers. Prof Singh Diagnosed he and it was a shock for us to read that a beautiful girl had Autism. Why were we not told earlier and guided earlier is the thought that runs through my mind the whole day now. What if I had not come to Prof Singh, what if she had continued like this. With a lot of help we have made many changes and are now trying to help her, but it is so late in my heart.

My sense of inner void, coupled with lack of purpose in life is as if I am transparent and anything positive like love or joy just passes right through me. Then I feel like it was never there at all. I have been obsessed with wanting happiness. The social and personal expectations that I should feel happy and not sad have just increased my feelings of sadness and a sense of disconnection to the people in my life and the world around me. For a very long time I have felt that I am going through the motions, and not able to contribute to the world and that my life is not what I would like it too be. It is horrible to be in a wasted marriage at the age of 38 and feel like I am not fully part of the world. I couldn’t feel anything and nothing I did made an impact on events or other people, I existed but I wasn’t alive.When you feel like everything you do is pointless and you’re just going through the motions. Just trying to fill in the time until you die. Sometimes you have fun or something good happens which can distract you for a while, but ultimately there is a hollowness inside which never goes away. I have been on opioid painkillers and completely dependent on them. I have now started psychotherapy and between the appointments I feel better control over myself. Mr Singh is very kind. I much more aware about myself and what I should be doing.The brooding is still there but the sinking feeling has gone as I know I have someone to fall back on, till the next session and I know I will be better now with time. It is a big relief

My one major regret has been that my parents could not guide me in studies. We were left all alone to understand what to do and how to study with no knowledge of how to proceed. There was no internet, no mobile phones and no resources like the children have today. I have seen my son in an agitated state since class 6. He has been going completely blank whenever he has been handed over a question paper and becomes a stone statue when he has to write. Ask him anything verbally and he will give very good responses. But ask him to sit down and study and even a small noise will agitate him, and he is getting up from the desk with every excuse. Sometimes it is bathroom, sometimes it asking a friend on the phone what the answer is and sometimes it is , he is very hungry and wants to eat chips all the time. My husband and I have really slogged to reach a certain level and now also we are constantly having to slog it to keep our positions in the corporate world. We thought we have given everything to our only son and now he is wasting his school years letting time fly away. My senior in google had visited Prof Singh and in discussion with her I decided to pay him a visit with my husband and son. Our appointment has been very fruitful and has given us clear perspective about his growth curve and also how to plan his studies. We did not go thinking that our son will have Dyslexia or any Learning Disability and it is my impression after this visit that we were wrong. I now firmly believe that we need to look beyond our ability as parents to help our offsprings and there is so much out there to learn about our children that it is not possible without correct professional help. There are so many myths that are created by society and social and family pressures that the actual reality is lost for most parents. I personally feel our Indian schools are not totally equipped to give us a clear picture of our childrens learning progress and by the time we come to know it is too late. Our wake up call is like what happened to us when the board exams are coming near and panic set in. Prof Singh has really helped us to handle our son and treated him like his own child. We are genuinely touched by his gestures.

I have seen so many people experienced unrequited love, that I was sure I dont want to be a number in this heartles game. When love is not returned it not only is painful, but also quite common: who has not at least witnessed a case. I used to think only folish girls analyse ‘ideal love’, that is, the best love we can aspire to. I am happy to concede that my ideal of love includes reciprocation. In my relationship of 4 years, when trying to figure out how love works, I realise I was misguided to start with an idealised version. I learnt that most loves that we experience and witness are not ideal: they are messy, painful, and imperfect. Many such loves are not reciprocated. And yet, many of these loves are also grounded in reasons. The reason I admire my mother. In my case I forgot to look at love as it is, not as what I wanted it to be. My Love as it is became exactly what it need not be a non reciprocated companionship. Dr Singh immediately realised what was happening and realised that for me committing myself romantically to a person involves getting married, or being in an exclusive relationship, but for my Boy Friend his thinking was changing to a romantic commitment being compatible with being in an open relationship. For me romantic commitment requires a deep concern for my Boy Friends welfare, to the point of putting his interests above everyone else’s. I realise that Insofar as people have different characters, different moralities, and different personalities, love and loving relationships can take on many expressions. Dr Singh realised the dynamics happening and through the 6 months he worked with us, he managed to get my BF to understand that entering into a loving relationship corresponds to entering into a socially regulated, or even institutionalised, practice, such as dating, marriage, and the like. Dr Singh with his open logic showed us both that It is easy to conflate a loving relationship with its social counterpart, a social relationship characterised by shared activities and regulated by social norms, and that how being different for different sake is not worth it. How 4 years is a very deep commitment and even raised a thought process that what was my BF doing for 4 years, that now he needed a change? That question I realised was so important as if it was a 1 year old friendship, I would have just walked out myself. I had to beg and drag my BF to Dr Singh and pay from my pocket, and every minute was worth 10 times it value, and there is so much to thank him for.

A few months ago, I realized that my stress levels were getting too high, building up a lot of negative thoughts and emotions, and eventually straining my marital relationship. I was going through a lot of rumination and my mind was filled with negative thoughts, sometimes even bordering on depression. Although I knew that a good clinical psychologist could help me deal with this, without any prior experience, that too in India where clinical psychologists are a rare breed, I was pretty skeptical to consult one. Had I consulted a physician, I would have been referred to a psychiatrist and I would have been prescribed anti-depressants for sure. I did not want this and so I had to take a chance and with a lot of nudging from my husband, I finally decided to take an appointment with Dr.Singh based on the terrific reviews he had on practo. I must say that it was one of our best decisions ever. At my first session with Dr.Singh, I was not even able to tell him what my problem was and just kept talking to him about random things that came to my mind until I felt emotionally drained out. He patiently listened to me and then also spoke to my husband. Even at that point of time, I was not too convinced that he was going to be helpful. He explained many hardcore psychology concepts that were new to us. I read up a lot about them later and gave myself time to reflect upon Dr.Singh s words. He asked both of us to take the really expensive personality test and honestly, we took it with very little hope, wondering how filling up a questionnaire would really help. But, Dr.Singh firmly believed it would, and we just trusted him. He was also very generous to offer a huge discount for us on the pricing considering our financial status. We then had a second session to discuss our results and this time, I should say, I already felt different. Just filling up a questionnaire and listening to the interpretations from Dr.Singh absolutely made a stark difference in the way I saw myself as a person. After this, Dr.Singh confidently said that it would just take one session to set me right and again, I was taken aback. I had the impression that psychotherapy sessions must last for months together to bring about a change in one s mental health. But again, Dr.Singh was right. He knows exactly what would work for each of his patients and that there is no common pill for attaining good mental health. And this is what makes him unique and successful in his profession. Within one therapy session, and slight changes in my lifestyle as suggested by him, I could see a drastic improvement in my mental health. I started observing positive changes in my mood and behavior. All this happened within just a month. Now, I feel fresh, energetic and positive every morning when I wake up and I cannot thank Dr.Singh enough for that. I am glad I found Dr.Singh because now I know whom to approach confidently when I need help. I strongly recommend Dr.Singh without any reservations.

When god sends you his messenger hold his hand and let him guide you.

I'd describe my experience with Prof Singh as something as magical. But more importantly you have listen to God's messenger whenever he conveys a message and when you fail to do so you might find yourself in a darker place. I'd recommend Prof Singh and would ask anyone approaching him for any kind of guidance or treatment to just listen and follow whatever he says. He's has a very kind, direct but deft approach and he'd help you by empowering you to bring together all your broken pieces.

Now I am sharing my story with you :

Before I came under Prof Singh's guidance I found myself stuck in a never-ending loop where I thought about my regrettable moments. The moments that made me think that I am truly an awful person. For all the moments I ought not to choose to do what was right and kind or when I chose not to speak the truth or when I spoke things that were mean and bitter when I was angry. Sometimes the self-hatred became insurmountable and I used to wonder that this is the not the right way to live with myself.

A few issues with my behaviour that are outright wrong and that drag me down over the time:

1. My habit of hiding things or lying about them: I know they stem from my physical, financial or other kind of insecurities but now I am moving closer to reality as I grow.

2. My anger or impulsiveness: I say things in the heat of the moment that I’d rather not say and sometimes they are not meant to be taken in their original sense but they do are very self-destructive as they damage my close relationships.

3. My inability to change or comfort with these behaviours dragging me further down as when my mind did nothing except think more about past events.

4. I wake up with regret and I am not able to put things into action as either I am thinking about the past or what would happen if I change my future i.e. the future. Here I mostly exhaust myself mentally.

I really want to burn the old self because right now because in this very moment I don’t love myself. I am getting strangled by myself financially, inter-personally, mentally, personally, and on the career front.

I know I have made people happy and done some good and that’s driving me for further change. Also I love my mom and I don’t think I am not the person she would want me to be. Recently, I have disappointed everyone and including myself.

I don’t want to live with myself like this and I am willing to do everything that Prof Singh's asks me to do and developing virtues for a stable, peaceful and healthy mind is the most important thing. I have also give a few high quality psychometric tests that only Prof Singh is trained to assess.

Its never too late, we all as humans make mistakes but it is important to find the light and choose it instead of the darkness and I hope as you read this you have found the light in the form of Prof Singh at the end of the tunnel and when all doors seems to have closed for you. And most importantly I am sure you'll be your own light as you undergo therapy and become self empowered.

Go for it !

I have been on SSRI medication until I read about Peter Kramer & Irving Kirsch work’s about the erronous theories of chemical imbalance and I was stunned . I read how they the case for them evolved by saying that the scientific evidence for Serotonin theory is junk as written in their book’s. It was pretty simple. A normal patient goes to the doctor and explains he’s depressed. The doctor talks through the options with him, and if they both agree, he starts taking an antidepressant. At this point, doctor start’s to monitor the patient. If the antidepressant doesn’t work for him, he’s given another one. If that one doesn’t work, he’s given another one—and on and on until he gets one that feels as though it works. This is how it works for most of us out there in the real world: a majority of people who get these reach a point where they just reconcile. I have been there emigrated back to India from Seattle as I would start questioning my own feelings, and doubting myself—and that caused me to hide more. My Husband left Microsoft and came back after one year. I went to aa very expensive therapist ( Not Names ) in Gurgaon and it was just an intelligent chat and I felt folish when I was told that “ it is the way for us women, we have to chin up and move on” what rubish. We connected with Prof Singh over TeleMed from Gurgaon as I could not even force myself to get out of the bed on most mornings. I'm very close friend of my husband had been in long-term treatment with Professor Singh and spoke very highly of him and we decided to give it a try. It's difficult to believe but the very first appointment give me the sixth sense feeling that here is somebody who probably understands what I am and the kind of complete mess I am in and we just move forward having faith in God and today almost 2 years down the line we are still in weekly communication and I am much much better and much much more sorted out to handle myself on a day-to-day basis and my husband is able to talk to me without me, being craanky and irritable with him, because what had caused me to go into the spiral of acute depression was the loss of our third child, as I was in serious antidepressants and I can never forgive myself for not knowing that I could've put myself through serious therapy, and then it was better to give it two years of time, rather than damage my body so badly and get traumatised at the death of my only daughter who was born black and blue. My advice to folks where ever you are in this country, you must try therapy first before you jump to eating chemicals, and if chemicals are required, you should not ignore them, but look at getting yourself a very good Doctor Who can administer the correct form of therapy suited to your personality and your own deficit requirements

I was diagnosed with paranoia and I have been eating sertraline 50 , morning , and 50 evening and I have been considered to be a social misfit. Even my family members felt that I distorted behaviour and affected those with whom I came into contact in devastating ways. I was paranoid about how my friends viewed me, I was paranoid about the perfection of the work that I submitted to my boss sitting till 10 o'clock in the night, and at one point of time, my wife told me that I am dangerous because I can perpetrate violence. When I recognised my condition and I realise that treating my paranoid behaviour can prevent or reduce antisocial activity against all the people who were in my circle? I went and started all my medications diligently. I have experienced delusions of persecution, ranging from thinking others out to get me to falsely believing that I have physical illness. I have fought with suspicious Ness, hypersensitivity, extreme vigilance and simmering anger, and tendency to blaame others for problems and absolve myself of almost everything. To be paranoid is a very hurtful Epithet. After five years of eating medicines and gaining about 10 KG of weight, I started searching Google and spoke to prof singh. The first thing he told me is that paranoia is a disorder of the mind, not a flow of character, and before proceeding with any form of assistance, he spent three months sensitising my family to what I was going through, and eventually we started speaking and working together to understand the root cause of my paranoia and persecution complex as I would say. Over time, I learnt that my sadness can help me relieve my tension, and that I can use it as a healing emotion that can help let go of things that aren't working anyway. Five years of wasted time and six months of talking to my family by prof singh, made them realise that I was not paranoid from birth, but it was the circumstances of my family and the complete lack of responsibility that my father decided to indulge that had created a situation of hypersensitivity and extreme vigilance along with simmering anger and tendency to blaame others for problems and absolve myself of almost everything that had led to my behaviour. I was neither paranoid, neither was I craazy I was just reacting to how I was brought up.it has taken a lot of time to understand this, prof singh has been very kind and gentle with me, but I have to give myself also the credit that I believed in the fact that I need to give myself time to heal. If I had not given myself this time to heal which was very nicely explained to me by sir, I don't think I would have recovered, and it is with great gratitude. I would say that the way he spoke to my father, my mother, my wife and explain to them what I was going through, that also helped cure me. I really don't know if I'm cured but I know that I am not what I used to be. I am a complete human being and my entire family has one person to thank, and that is GB Singh. It may look like I am over thanking him, but nobody has any idea of how I was made to feel in my home and in society with the labels given to me, and I'm so grateful that I have come out of all these childhood created problems and that I can finally live that makes me write this and thank prof singh again and again, however, embarrassing, it might seem.