TW: ''Coming from the family of an airman, I was expected to be an extrovert who could fit in quite easily because the force required us to switch bases every two to three years, But, I was not. Notwithstanding my crippled capacity in socialising, I made a good bunch of friends when I stayed in Punjab and Agra.
When I was in 2nd grade, my father got out of the force and became a banker and his dream of returning to his hometown after 20 long years came to fruition. We landed up in Cuttack. A place I honestly considered hell, because all I could see during my 2 week visits to my Nani's was trash and poor management. Well, I had to learn Odia to survive here. My parents thought it would be easy because of my Odia genes, but it was a nightmare.
Fast forward to 2018, I was in 9th and I'd had my fair share of betrayals and friends who just gave up on me. I'd got done with a relationship and lost faith in humans. I disowned friends who actually cared and sided with two-faced turds. A few months in, a prank went wrong and it led to a chain of events that started the darkest phase of my life. I got blamed for something I didn't do and I was left all alone. I went into depression, (yeah that happens to 15 year-olds too). The first thing that came to my mind was to end my life, and I was 2 inches away from doing so, but I thought that it wasn't time just yet. I knew I had clinical depression and I turned to a cousin(who I knew suffered from depression and recovered too) because I hated crying myself to sleep and also my extreme migraines. He advised me to find ways for closure and ease up on the deep seated guilt. I stole from his old stash of anti-depressants, Prozac, Zoloft, the whole deal and I kind of got addicted to it and started finding excuses to visit my aunt (at 11 in the night on one occasion). I thought, who'd notice right? Well, my brother did, and he threw away the remaining pills and forbade me to make the same mistakes he did. But, it was all in vain because my insomnia and migraines came back. Luckily, I found love and I found myself healing, but that was short lived. We had our share of differences and I ended up being the same as before. I did some research and found that new hobbies are good for mental health. I tried writing and meme-making, but it all fell through.While in quarantine, I came across one artwork that inspired me a lot, not just because the artist was my pal, but also because I was really moved by the message rooted in it. And I thought to myself that that was it, I was gonna become a digital artist! And believe me, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. It's been two months and I believe my ordeal with MDD is over. I'm getting a great response on my artworks and I've reached out to people with mental health issues (FYI this is the first instance of contact I've made with strangers) and have helped quite a few of them.This was my story of finding my own self and being proud of it.'' - Prateek Mohapatra 
Fast forward to 2018, I was in 9th and I'd had my fair share of betrayals and friends who just gave up on me. I'd got done with a relationship and lost faith in humans. I disowned friends who actually cared and sided with two-faced turds. A few months in, a prank went wrong and it led to a chain of events that started the darkest phase of my life. I got blamed for something I didn't do and I was left all alone. I went into depression, (yeah that happens to 15 year-olds too). The first thing that came to my mind was to end my life, and I was 2 inches away from doing so, but I thought that it wasn't time just yet. I knew I had clinical depression and I turned to a cousin(who I knew suffered from depression and recovered too) because I hated crying myself to sleep and also my extreme migraines. He advised me to find ways for closure and ease up on the deep seated guilt. I stole from his old stash of anti-depressants, Prozac, Zoloft, the whole deal and I kind of got addicted to it and started finding excuses to visit my aunt (at 11 in the night on one occasion). I thought, who'd notice right? Well, my brother did, and he threw away the remaining pills and forbade me to make the same mistakes he did. But, it was all in vain because my insomnia and migraines came back. Luckily, I found love and I found myself healing, but that was short lived. We had our share of differences and I ended up being the same as before. I did some research and found that new hobbies are good for mental health. I tried writing and meme-making, but it all fell through.While in quarantine, I came across one artwork that inspired me a lot, not just because the artist was my pal, but also because I was really moved by the message rooted in it. And I thought to myself that that was it, I was gonna become a digital artist! And believe me, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. It's been two months and I believe my ordeal with MDD is over. I'm getting a great response on my artworks and I've reached out to people with mental health issues (FYI this is the first instance of contact I've made with strangers) and have helped quite a few of them.This was my story of finding my own self and being proud of it.'' - Prateek Mohapatra
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