Be aware of your mental health - By Annu Biswas

BE AWARE OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Being an active and dedicated participant in the advocacy of mental health awareness, it gives me immense pleasure, enthusiasm and encouragement to be able to write on mental health on a platform like this which has global outreach.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to initially extend my gratitude towards Storentrep, who are rigorously involved, to make the very needed topic of mental health come to the lime light.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated across the globe on October 10, to educate people and spread awareness about the importance of mental health and how one should never neglect their mental health issues. The overall objective is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity to talk about what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

This covid-19 pandemic has opened the door to discuss and talk in detail about mental health issues as everyone, whether be child, young adults or old age, people from every walk of life have been equally affected. They found it difficult to accept their new normal. The force has been faced much more severely by people who already have pre-existing mental health conditions, health and other frontline workers, students, and people living alone.

According to The World Health Organization, in India, mental illness is an emerging and serious public health issue. For instance suicide rates in India have been rising over the past five decades. The WHO has elaborated the impact of mental illnesses on suicide. The suicide rate in India is higher than the global average and is the leading cause of death among those aged 15–29 in India. There remains a massive unaddressed need within this population. Causes being lack of awareness, stigma attached with mental illness and limited access to mental health services.

That’s why, this year, the world mental health theme is mental health in an unequal world focusing on access to mental health services. Moreover, if we evaluate developments in the field of mental health, the pace appears to be slow.

It’s more than 60 years that WHO has acknowledged that “without mental health there can be no true physical health”, however, the scenario has not altered substantially. About 14% of the global burden of disease is attributed to neuropsychiatric disorders. The burden of mental disorders is likely to have been underestimated because of inadequate appreciation of the inter-play between mental illness and other health disorders.

Also, progress in mental health service delivery has been slow in most low- and middle-income countries. Barriers include lack of funding; low numbers of those trained in mental health care; and the lack of priority to mental health perspective in primary health care.

Also, lack of knowledge about the mental illnesses poses a challenge to the mental health care delivery system. Awareness and health literacy are two sides of the same coin. Stigma and discrimination are negative consequences of ignorance and misinformation that lack of awareness result in.

Thus, it reinforces the need to increase awareness of mental health as a means of combating stigma, enhancing prevention, ensuring early recognition, and also stimulating simple and practical interventions within the community.

Before I conclude, I would like to add this simple analogy, to make you understand what importance your mental health is for you.

Just think of someone, may be a near or dear one in your family or friend circle, who is seriously unwell and is suffering from some physical illness. He is affected by the disease for the past few days. He is unable to do his daily routine work. But you tell him to stop acting like crazy or foolish or stop being dramatic. You tell him to be brave and say that it is just in his mind, there is nothing called as illness. Would your suggestions or words like this help him recover or there are chances that he will become more ill if he agrees with you?

If you really care about this person, then you’re honest, logical and appropriate suggestions should be that he/she requires good nutritious food, clean water and right medicine. He should get a consultation from some physician at the earliest, so that the person recovers from that physical illness.

Now look at it from another angle, from the perspective of mental illness. If the same person is persistently feeling anxious, sad, depressed, hopeless, helpless, worried, insecure for some issues in his life, and you comment that, don’t act like a child! Don’t be foolish! Are you mad that you are worrying so much about such a minute issue? Stop acting like crazy! Again the same question arises- would your comments help him recover or there are chances that he will become more ill?

The conclusion is, just like you care for your body, you need to care for your mind also. Perhaps, be more sensitive towards your mental health as it is your essential requirement. Let every day be world mental health day for celebration. Thank you so much for your patient reading.

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Excerpts from Speech at World Mental Health Day Celebration at Vedanta Auditorium, DIT University)

Article by: -

Ms. Annu Biswas