Medication should be the last resort of people affected by substance addiction, alcohol or afflicted with disorders like depression and anxiety, said Mahesh Hiranandani, managing director of Anatta Humanversity.
Mr. Hiranandani had been helping people addicted to alcohol or suffering from depression to get back to their life by blending meditation and counselling in his residential client-specific programme. “These days, the tendency is to pop a pill and feel happy. A majority of affected people are prescribed anti-depressants when they go to a psychiatrist straight away without even asking them to see a counsellor or a psychologist,” he rued.
An awareness be generated that counsellors and psychologists can make people better without medication and not every one needs medication, he says. The Anatta centre typically takes clients who go on their volition and not forcibly brought by family members.
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Controlling emotions
Mr. Hiranandani, invited to deliver a talk on ‘Game of Emotions’ by the Young FICCI Ladies’ Organisation here on Wednesday, revealed in a media interaction that Anatta Humanversity was named after a disciple of Buddha. “Humans are full of emotions and the centre helps them deal with those emotions. People always try to control emotions unsuccessfully, ” he explained. This is where meditation and counselling make a huge difference compared to normal de-addiction centres where affected persons are kept in regimented manner.
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Kripa Foundation
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The programme is on the expensive side as the centre deals with a client on one-to-one basis and they do not take more than six to eight persons at any given time in three centres. Those who cannot afford it are guided to Kripa Foundation with centres across the country and that offers the same methodology. While Mahesh Hiranandani deals with the dependant, Vandana Hiranandani works with a group of family members of dependants online as they too need coping mechanisms to deal with a dependant. They are open to train people free of cost and open such centres across the country.
One can approach the centre through their helpline numbers 9967334000 and 9820264661.