Making mental health a priority

Only since the era of COVID started mental health issues like stress, anxiety and depression have started being talked about openly in India. In a recent survey, mental health was identified as one of the most frequently discussed topics among millennials. The majority of people now place greater importance on discussing it.

Although people are aware of it now to some extent, there is a lot of confusion around the treatment and how science can help us with it. WHO has estimated that the burden of mental health problems in India is increasing. In India, 21 suicides happen for every 100,000 people. So the importance of mental health issues and their awareness is undeniable.

If we look back a few years ago, people did not consider mental health as a problem itself. The idea of seeking help or talking about it used to be considered taboo. And those who were going through it were not even aware of how big a problem that was, If someone is being demotivated or lethargic for no reason, that person might be regarded as lazy and not many people will even give it much attention. In India, more than 60% of people are working professionals in their 9-5 job. And this rate is increasing by 4 % every year from 2006 - 2009. A study says 44% of IT professionals had their mental health affected since the start of the pandemic. Be it long working hours or not having a social life, it has affected their personal and professional life. Why is mental health awareness so crucial? -- One of the main reasons people don't ask for help is that they are not aware of the problem themselves. They might not recognize the symptoms or signs of it. --The knowledge of various methods and coping mechanisms will help us to help ourselves, a family member or a coworker at the workplace. --By being aware, we can also empathize with the person experiencing it, and identify or ask the right help at the right time. --It would help us to spread the word among a large population through social media or any other platform. According to a research done by TLLF (The Love, Live , Laugh )Foundation founded by Deepika Padukone),the people who had partcipated in the survey was asked the question “How do you describe mental health illness?”. Some of them responded or identified the symptoms like. Anxiety/Depression/Alzheimers. And almost half of the people have used the word “retard” in their answers. In the same survey, 17% of the people claimed to know someone who is suffering from mental health issues. And only 2% of the people actually admitted to suffering from mental illness. So the question comes as to how can we increase awareness about it. --Educating children about mental health after a certain age and teaching them how to identify the illness --Creating and implementing an awareness training program at the workplace. --Making the experts available in health stations or hospitals like any general physician -- Making the different communities aware of it by providing them with the required resources.

Many people scoff at discussing mental health today, and even if they do, they use terms like Crazy/Mad/Stupid to describe mental illness. Everyone has witnessed the emotional trauma and stresses some people went through in the past covid time. And as human beings, it is our responsibility to understand and show empathy towards other people's emotional needs. And it is Vital to create awareness in order to approach towards solving the problem of mental health in India more stringently.

By

Anindita Rath

@scrambled.writer

(Anindita Rath , keeps an interest in writing, reading and speaking on various topics. She has been working as an IT professional in an MNC for the past few years, yet she continues her journey of being a writer.She also has been a part of few anthologies till date.She is an explorer from the heart who likes to try different things and learn from them and from life experiences. Her love for writing led her to create and dissect situations and present a different perspective on things.She is happy to share and receive feedback and loves to collaborate with peer writers)