Q: I am an engineering student. I have a serious emotional problem and I am unable to understand whether it is a mental problem or not. I come from a middle class family and I am the only son of my parents. I have always seen my parents fighting since I was a child. I am short tempered and whenever I get into a fight with somebody, I find myself very depressed and unable to forget it. Sometimes I feel very lonely, though I have friends. This is affecting my studies adversely. I was an intelligent student in school, but now I get below average marks (just 60%). This makes me very depressed. I devote 6 hours to my studies daily, but the results are not as expected. I know everything is due to my stress, but I feel helpless. Whenever I study, I can't concentrate and get angry over small things. I want to get rid of this problem. Please help. I live in a hostel away from home. I feel like killing myself.

A:One needs to first understand that what are emotional illnesses. Depression is a clinical illness that results due to chemical changes in our brain, and this is what brings symptoms of sadness, loss of pleasure, and mood changes. Also similarly anxiety disorders also caused by these chemical changes causes irritability, excessive thinking, and temper outbursts. You need to understand that these chemical changes could happen in any person, and they are common and there is no reason to blame one own self or get in the frame of mind that you are in presently, as once you talk to an expert, you shall feel better very soon, and these emotional distresses would stop totally. So I would suggest that you talk to a psychiatrist at the earliest.