The Alternative Story podcast

In this podcast episode, Rashi talks to Paras Sharma, a wearer of many hats, about body image.. In this episode Paras is a PhD scholar researching the acquisition of male body image and a therapist with over a decade of experience.

Paras explains that body image is not just about objective physical appearance, but also about how a person perceives their appearance and how others perceive it. Body image is, therefore, constantly influenced by cultural and societal norms. Paras also breaks down body image into two main elements: body esteem (how a person thinks they look in comparison to others) and body satisfaction (how happy a person is with their own body, irrespective of what others think of them).

Paras and Rashi discuss how everyone has body image issues, and it's a spectrum ranging from mild dissatisfaction to severe issues. They also discuss how certain groups of people are more vulnerable to body image issues due to societal pressures. Overall, the conversation offers insights into understanding and managing body image issues.

In the part 2 of the sleep podcast, Rashi and Paras talk about sleep  disorders. Paras has been diagnosed with a sleep disorder and shares his  experience of how it was before the diagnosis, how he got the diagnosis  and how his life has changed post the diagnosis.

Forums for help with sleep disorders:

1. Sleep Apnea - https://www.reddit.com/r/SleepApnea/

2. CPAP - https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAP/

3. Sleep Disorders - https://www.reddit.com/r/sleepdisorders/

The link to the promised Baba Sehgal song about sleep apnea (It promotes a company that offers sleep studies as well as the CPAP machine. We are not affiliated with the company though we have used their services in the past) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLyzgN_IKEQ

I spoke to Paras, a counselling psychologist and my spouse about sleep! We spoke so much that we had to make this the part one of the podcast. In this episode, we speak about what sleep is and why we as humans sleep at all! 

Full transcript available on our website!

In this episode, we explore what emotions, feelings and affect mean and how their impact on our lives. Should we control our emotions? Should we express them at all times? Are some emotions good and some bad? 

We discuss all of this and much much more with Ahla, master's in applied psychology with a specialisation in clinical psychology. 

In this episode, Paras talks about adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and what they for us in the here and now. He answers some questions about resilience, moving on and more. 

For details of the ACEs questionnaire, visit: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/activities/adverse_childhood_experiences/en/

and 

for details of the resilience questionnaire, visit: https://www.nwpgmd.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/resiliencequestionnaire.pdf

TW: suicide

Surviving an attempt to kill oneself can teach you a lot about the world we live in. D talks to Ahla Matra about what it means when one doesn't get the support and what changes when you do receive unwavering support. 

Do you also find it difficult to say no? Setting boundaries is not an easy task. It requires one to be assertive and mindful of one's own needs as well as respecting the other's person's demands. 

Here, Paras Sharma talks about how can you set boundaries and learn to put yourself first. 

What happens to your mental health when you get your heart broken and everything sucks? Is there something you can do to protect yourself? Hear Paras Sharma  talk about grieving relationships, what could have beens and recovering from them.  

Having anxiety is difficult. You can feel the effect in your body - with your heart thumping, your BP fluctuating, in your mind - with thoughts running, unable to stop the thought loop and it is difficult to believe that you will ever feel better again. 

In this episode, Paras Sharma talks about dealing with anxiety and how one can manage their mental health. 

What is mindfulness? Can you be mindful without meditating? What is self-compassion? Is it the same as being selfish? What's all of this got to do with mental health?

All this and more answered by Paras Sharma. 

If you were to sit down to make a list of things affecting your mental health, would capitalism feature in it? Most mental health practitioners would ask you to look inward, to try and find things within you that can be fixed. At The Alternative Story, we know that capitalism and the importance it places on productivity can impact your mental health. 

Paras Sharma talks about what it means to be a mental health professional who believes that capitalism is not helping us and why we should be nicer to ourselves. 

TW: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death, Grief

Getting a diagnosis of cancer can be traumatic not only for the person but their loved ones, as well. In this episode, Rashi talks to Hiba Siddiqui, a trained psycho-oncologist about the impact cancer can have on one's mental health. 

Both Hiba and Rashi talk about their experiences of being a caregiver to someone with cancer, losing people in their lives and grief. There's a lot of conversation about Hiba's work at Max CancerCare, Max Hospital, New Delhi.