Things We Don’t Carry on our backs
Thirteen stories. Thirteen paths to healing.
Written by a 14-year-old
Not on our backs. Inside us.
Thirteen people. Thirteen common mental-health conditions. Each chapter follows one person from the first quiet signs, through diagnosis and treatment, to the slow, real work of recovery, setbacks and all.
To write it, Hridaya interviewed psychiatrists and psychologists at Manaha Clinic about journeys they have guided. Names, ages, jobs and other identifying details were changed or blended to protect privacy. What stayed is the emotional truth: how it feels to struggle, to ask for help, and to get a little better.
Thirteen stories
One condition. One person. One path to healing.
- 01Social anxietyPriyam knows every answer. Saying it out loud is the hard part.
- 02DementiaJagadish forgets the day, but never forgets to try.
- 03Bipolar disorderHighs and lows cost Kavya a job, before she finds her rhythm.
- 04Child ADHDVipin, a toy Ferrari, and the turtle hug that helps.
- 05Substance addictionShivam’s “one more glass” and the long road back.
- 06OCDEleven years of fear, and finally an open door.
- 07DepressionMeera stops watering her plant. One day, she starts again.
- 08SchizophreniaAditya hears voices no one else can, until the room goes quiet.
- 09Borderline personalityArya is sure everyone is laughing at her. Are they?
- 10PhobiaPriya cannot board a plane. Virtual reality therapy changes that.
- 11AutismFor Avni, a classroom is too loud. Slowly, she finds a way in.
- 12Trauma / PTSDAfter the crash, Amyra cannot sit in a car. Until she can.
- 13Adult ADHDAvi is always behind, until he stops judging a shark for not walking.
Every story walks the full care path: the first visit, assessment, medication, therapy, and newer options like rTMS and VR therapy where they fit.
“His father had forgotten what he had written. But he had not forgotten to try.” From Chapter 2 · Dementia
Hridaya Hemanth
Hridaya wrote this book at 14, to help people meet mental health with compassion instead of fear. She spent months interviewing specialists, learning about each condition before turning what she heard into stories.
Dr Jyothirmayi Kotipalli
Senior neuropsychiatrist and psychotherapist with over 17 years of experience, and founder and chief psychiatrist of Manaha Clinic | Mind & Neuro Center, Hyderabad. MD Psychiatry (Gold Medalist), MRCPsych (UK).
For anyone who has wondered if it’s “something more”
And for the people around them, who want to understand.
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