A young man of twenty-five was confused about his sexuality. He had no one to talk to; his doctor parents would not accept him for his sexual orientation, and his sister, the one person who knew about it, wasn’t particularly close to him. And so he walked into Listening Post one day.
He opened up to the volunteers about his confusion regarding his sexuality, and the problems that had stemmed from it. He was becoming unsociable, found it difficult to interact with his colleagues at his workplace, and kept thinking about the sexual abuse he faced as a child. The volunteers realised that he was on the cusp of depression, and helped him see that it was important that he didn’t let his negative thinking get the better of him. He was advised to seek professional help.
He hesitated to visit the psychologist whose referral he was given. He spoke to the Listening Post volunteers about how the stigma attached to mental health issues made him feel embarrassed about having to seek help. He received the push he needed from the volunteers after which he took the decisive step towards his mental recovery.
For perhaps the first time in his life, he was, at the Listening Post, free to talk about things he had hitherto swept under the carpet. He began to appreciate the importance of accepting and being proud of himself for who he was before seeking acceptance from others, and the need to get professional help to cope with his feelings of dejection and sadness. Listening Post empowered him to love and to care for himself; and to work on building his self-esteem.
