Handling the heartbreak

Dr Shyam Bhat recently made headlines when he was seen seated on the couch with Deepika Padukone on a TV show with Barkha Dutt. Psychiatrist, integrative medicine specialist and writer, Shyam spills the beans on his latest book, How to Heal Your Broken Heart that is aptly titled and relevant in today’s times.

“I studied MBBS at Bangalore Medical College and began my psychiatry training in Birmingham, UK and then a postgraduate residency programme at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois,” he shares with us.

Specialising in psychiatry, internal medicine and psychosomatic medicine, his journey has been one of continual learning. “I feel a sense of privilege to work with people and to facilitate their journey of self-discovery, awareness and healing. Deepika Padukone founded the Live Love Laugh foundation and I am one of the trustees in this NGO. We are working together to reduce stigma and increase awareness about mental health,” states Shyam.

Talking of how he got the idea of penning this book which is available on the Juggernaut app, the young doctor shares, “While I would go to many colleges and organisations and give talks about stress management and depression, many people would come up to me after the talk, and most of them seemed to have one question in common — how do I get over the loss of my relationship? I realised that heartbreak is extremely common, given the fast changing culture, which includes more dating, and consequently Indians now suffer more heartbreak than in previous generations.”

Shyam had his personal experience to add to his research. “I also recalled my own experiences of heartbreak when in my 20s. When I first experienced heartbreak I was just starting off as a psychiatrist and the experience along with my psychiatry learnings helped me deepen my understanding of love. Over the years, I’ve worked with many people suffering from heartbreak and in therapy facilitated their recovery and self-discovery. I knew that there are steps that people can take to not only heal from heartbreak, but also to use this experience to gain valuable insights about their true self. I wanted to reach out to as many people as possible and so I wrote this book with the hope that it will be a source of support, inspiration and healing for anyone suffering from heartbreak,” he says.

Speaking of the condition of contemporary youngsters, Shyam adds, “Youngsters in India are at high risk of suffering from stress, anxiety and depression and I help them deal with it by enabling them to increase their emotional intelligence and to manage stress better.”