Family troubles leading to isolation Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide, mental health and self-harm. A difficult home life caused Sunaiyna to retreat from the world and stop looking after herself. Support from the ARTEMIS program for both Sunaiyna and her mother helped her to emerge from her depression. Sunaiyna dropped out of school after her father left home and her parents got divorced. Even though the house was always full of people, she felt like no one really saw her. She stayed silent, kept to herself, and refused to go anywhere. She also stopped eating properly. She wasn’t used to talking about her emotions and never shared anything with anyone. She cried a lot but was scared to tell anyone because she thought it would hurt them. Someone to talk to After Sunaiyna was enrolled in The George Institute’s ARTEMIS project (Adolescents’ Resilience and Treatment nEeds for Mental health in Indian Slums), a counsellor started visi

Sravanthi's story Sravanthi lost her first baby in the eight month of pregnancy due to pre-eclampsia. When she became pregnant again, she was enrolled in the SMARThealth Pregnancy program. This time, an ASHA worker diagnosed her high blood pressure and helped her manage her condition through to the birth of her baby boy. “My health improved, my blood pressure stabilised, and I was able to carry the pregnancy to term. I feel much better now, both physically and mentally. I no longer live in fear.By: SravanthiSMARThealth user Sravanthi's story Struggling to make a living on low wages and handouts from family members, life got even harder for newly married Sravanthi when she became pregnant for the first time and had to give up her part time job processing tobacco leaves. During the fifth month of her pregnancy, she started to experience some worrying signs that something was wrong – her legs, face, and whole body swelled up. "At the hospi