Issues related to mental health can’t be brushed under the carpet any more. There is an imperative need for a dialogue around it. Living Stories, by YourDOST.com, an online counselling service, is a step to address this lacuna. In association with Social Offline, and curated by Sanchana Krishnan, Living Stories is a project to initiate conversations around mental health between people who play books and readers.
The books are people whose experiences range from diagnosis of bipolar and borderline personality disorder to insomnia and anxiety. It will also showcase stories by experienced professionals and chart out their mental health journeys. Readers will be given three slots of 20 minutes each; they can spend these three slots all at once, with one book or divide the time among different books or anything in between. Readers can purchase more slots at the event, in case they want access to more books.
“The books are different kinds of people who have gone through pain, anxiety, disorders and overcome it. Like Farida Rizwan, who overcame cancer and other issues in her life. Now, she is a mother to a special daughter and a counsellor herself. There are food bloggers, poets who battled bipolarism or anxiety issues,” says Puneet Manuja, co-founder of YourDost.com. Puneet says society is still at a stage where a mere discussion about it is rare. “Before addressing mental health, we need to create an atmosphere, a support system where people can easily come out in the open and discuss their problems,” explains Puneet.
Though YourDost.com is an online platform with 1,000 experts on board, the outfit does offline activities to spread awareness.
(Living Stories will be held at Social Koramangala August 5 from 9 am- 6 pm. Tickets: Rs.300 )