How Great Lakes Chennai supported me with my mental health recovery

Last updated on: 30^th May, 2025   |  Student Experiences << back to blog

Published on: 22^nd April, 2020

A traumatic childhood led me to become an introverted, overly anxious, socially isolated adult with multiple medical issues like obesity, PCOD, and Dysthymia (PDD). The orthodox family I belong to didn’t understand me much and hushed me whenever I tried speaking up. The friends I made in college were too young to understand me then and even if I tried to share what I was going through; I was a subject of gossip and discussion. Then, I came to Great Lakes at 26 with honestly not many hopes. I came here to switch my career from IT to Marketing (which I eventually did)

It all started with an ice-breaking boot camp on Day 2 of my college at Tapovan. It involved doing a lot of group activities, brainstormers, ability to work in teams, and also physical fitness.

There was a task where 2-3 people from a team are supposed to hold a wooden log and you were to walk a certain distance. The self-esteem in me wanted to avoid doing the task. There came a person, a friend to-be, who was one of the fittest of the batch, encourage me to do the task by assuring that he’ll take care. And I eventually did it (well, almost). Right there I had found my first friend. Then I meet another man who saw me sitting alone wanted to strike a conversation. We 3 were a squad already, in fact, the girl sitting next to us asked if we knew each other for long. Through the two mentioned, I was introduced to 3 others who were my ‘friends like family’ later. Now I would like to call them my ‘friends AND family’ – my best friends and bros for life.

Depression is a lot talked about and hardly understood. It’s not just sadness after a setback or rejection, it’s a chemical imbalance in the brain causing hopelessness, guilt, isolation, numbness, shame, self-loathing, the stomach pains, the headaches, there is fatigue, you are always tired but still don’t sleep well, there are self-destructive thoughts, the behaviour is weird; depression impacts every aspect of you so much so that you forget who you really are. You make it a way of life and sometimes even recovery is difficult because it’s “different” and you have long been comfortable in negativity.

When I opened up about my sickness to my friends, nobody judged me, rather stayed strong with me. One looked into my eyes and told me never to feel alone, one encouraged me to go see a doctor, another lends his car and another one drove me to the doctor. This bunch was the real package I take back from Great Lakes. Sometimes all you need is a little warmth, a little love and a little care to change; a little believe in you from someone when you have lost all the hopes; now when I look at the pictures of us, I only look at myself and wonder “Wow, I never thought I could be this happy”

It’s 20th March as I write this, the last day of PGPM 2019-20 batch and coincidentally, this also marks the last day of my psychiatric treatment. I am healed, I am freed, after about 20 years of living with a certain weight by my heart, after 20 years of feeling insufficient and just not myself. And I wouldn’t have done any of it without my people. Great Lakes didn’t just give me the company to work for, but also the company I always longed for. Those five were my real healers, my real heroes.

A special mention here to Uncle Bala. He was my morning walk buddy while he was at the campus – I had some of the coolest and deepest conversations with him. He also helped me in my treatment, connecting me to the doctors I needed. That’s the beauty of Great Lakes. Such top-class faculties who are celebrities but yet so grounded and available for their pupil. The Programme office and other faculties also supported me a lot during this tough time.

Why am I telling my story today?

To communicate a very important message to the batches to come.

1. People have a lot to say and advice. “It’s too late to learn”, “You don’t make good friends at business school”, “It’s a competitive world, keep fighting” , you’ll hear many such things. But don’t hold yourself back just because some people had to face something. Not everyone is alike, so how can everyone’s experiences be the same? Be your own judge. It’s never too late. Don’t hesitate to try out new things or trust new people.

2. We at Great Lakes boast some of the finest faculty in the country, some of the top companies come to recruit us, so don’t worry about placements and jobs. You’ll get something good sooner or later if you are decent and patient. It’s what you do outside that academic block that helps you become who you really want to be. Everybody has a story- a traumatic past, issues with love, family, life or your own self. Some were too restricted back home, some had everything served on a platter. The former needs a little freedom, while the latter needs a little discipline. This is your time, away from everything, to focus on yourself, fight all your demons, and come out as not just a good manager, but a better human.

3. Focus on upskilling yourselves, more than getting good marks.

4. Identify your problem areas- it could be poor communication skills, lack of confidence, lack of mental peace, or physical fitness. It could even be a hobby you always wanted to pursue. Find at least one or two things you really want to do while at Great Lakes, other than academics and job.

5. There is a gym, there is medical room, psychologists and counsellors are even available even on phone calls, there is basketball, tennis, cricket, badminton and football, there are clubs and committees, there are singing and dancing events happening the year-round and there are about 600 people in the campus – 600 potential friends. Opportunities are boundless. Grab them.

6. Participate and do more of what challenges you till you master it. You might fail at first, let that not stop you from achieving your goals.

And this one or two year of time at Great Lakes will never come back again. For most of us, an MBA is the last educational degree, you’ll never get such a protected learning environment again. Make the most of it. Even if you don’t succeed, you’ll learn, and learn a lot.

Thank you, Great Lakes, for transforming me.

And happy learning to my juniors!