Hyderabad Engineer Shares How His Mental Health Improved ‘By Miles’ After Moving To US

Social media platforms provide an opportunity for online users to indulge in discussion with several people on different topics, ranging from politics to lifestyle and more. In a recent social media post, engineer Abhinath Batra from Hyderabad shared how his mental health significantly improved after moving to the US. He explained that staying occupied with various household chores, from cooking to vacuuming, has had a calming effect on his mind.

Batra’s post was prompted by a discussion about men’s mental health, sparked by another X user’s tweet, stating, “What’s the tweet that’s like “this is why we need men in mental health because Gandalf immediately knows Theoden needs to swing a sword around for a bit”?”

In response to this question, Abhinath wrote, “My mental health has improved by miles the moment I moved to the US because I’m back to using my hands. I’m cooking, washing dishes, vacuuming and before I know it my mind is calm and I’m humming a song. I have been the happiest building the massive load of IKEA deliveries today. “Busy hands, quiet mind”.”

In a subsequent post, Abhinath clarified that while living away from his parents in Hyderabad, he also took care of his own cooking and chores. “It just so happens that I felt this difference strongly when I moved abroad,” he added.

Abhinath’s post swiftly gained traction online, garnering over 100,000 views and sparked a flurry of reactions from the users in the comment section.

A user queried, “Was anything stopping you from doing those when you were not in the US?” Abhinath responded, shedding light on the previous living situation, “Last 6 months I was living with my parents in ggn so 1. They have their house running in their own way and they didn’t have chores to assign to me. I did cook occasionally but I would have to wrestle the kitchen from mother 2. AQI wasn’t conducive to going around to bring things like groceries directly. Using a car was sensible.”

Another commenter expressed a different perspective, stating, “Well, somehow this feels less of empowerment and more of “majboori” because of high cost household support staff.”

In agreement with Abhinath’s sentiment, one individual shared their own experience, saying, “I swear!! I’ve been cooking all my meals myself in preparation for us later this year. I made dosa for the first time today and it felt so good!! All food you cook tastes at least 5x better than the one that you get easily, call it fruits of your labor or stg.”

“Everytime, I am upset or anxious or just mind going gaga, I go to the kitchen and make myself a smoothie or an omelette or start watering my plants. Working with hands or any home chores is the second biggest mental health improver after working out, I feel,” another wrote.