Today while I was walking, a thought suddenly popped up-I realised I have been “prescribing” stories & books & serials & movies sometimes.

People feeling lonely, yearning for connections, conversations; some seeking hope in future so that they can work towards that.

Few days back, a young doctor, working in a corporate, almost daily night calls, weekend emergencies, poor sleep, gaining weight, wanted to figure out if her polycystic ovarian syndrome is causing her to feel very tired, or is it depression- she wanted to “understand” what is wrong with her. An intelligent young girl who has been to different consultants without feeling understood or receiving any understanding of why she is feeling worse everyday. She was looking for validation and agency in her work. Being low in a hierarchal medical ladder, lack of agency and validation in her job, she asked me if its only her-because noone else complains. She had many hobbies- but she doesn’t engage in art anymore, she doesn’t want to post on social media anymore because somehow she has been made to realise that anything which cannot be monetised or doesn’t add to her CV isn’t worth doing.

Yesterday a young husband and father with uncontrolled diabetes, unable to push himself to exercise, poor sleep..when we talked, wife said he has given up and says he doesn’t want to live long. He had struggled with her mother’s diabetes and complications and imagined the same future for himself. He needed a story of hope.

There is a need to create conversation spaces for people to connect- a difficult but worthwhile endeavour. However, we are not used to “open up” freely. Words fail us, they fail to convey the real us and therefore fail to connect people. Stories connect, the “fictitious” people in stories dare to show their “real” selves; or they show the real selves of people on whom the characters are based on…sometimes we see our real identities in these stories, they sometimes help us define some vague, undefined, identities within us, providing meaning and connect.

Hence I prescribe stories, because stories can heal.