A new mental well-being drive

Given that mental health problems are getting aggravated by COVID-19 (even in people who didn’t face such issues before the pandemic), mental health experts have decided to undertake a mass-level education drive on mental wellbeing. The call was taken at a virtual summit organised on April 7 by Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council. The experts said that this drive will educate people on staying positive and prevent them from resorting to self-harm, domestic violence or substance abuse.

Among those who attended the summit were Dr Samir Parikh (Director, Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Memorial Research Institute), Dr BN Gangadhar (Director, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, NIMHANS, Bengaluru) and Dr Rajiv Mehta (Vice Chairperson, Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital).

“Messaging is important. It should reach the right people in right manner with positivity that instils a sense of social responsibility. We must not end up magnifying our negative experiences. This is the time to take up our social responsibility to spread positivity. If role models, medical experts, government, media, RWAs, panchayat leaders, anganwadi workers – everyone takes the message across, people will comply,” said Dr Parikh. With mental health needs differ in different sections of the society, each need should be addressed individually and innovatively, said experts.

“We need to reach out to the large number of people outside digital media, through volunteers, as these are the people who need a lot of reassurance,” said Dr Gangadhar, citing the example of construction workers and slum dwellers. “Government needs to talk about the signs and symptoms of mental health and the positive and negative ways out of it. We need to take care that those who are suffering from anxiety/ depression do not take to drugs, but seek help,” said Dr Mehta.

Stating that all healthcare workers should join hands, Dr Gangadhar said, “There is an urgent need to democratise mental health and make everyone a part of it. Anyone who has an issue should reach out to the nearest general practitioner or a public health dispensary.” “I hope that the states will make arrangements so that medicines are available. The general practitioner can use telemedicine. For example, NIMHANS has a telemedicine facility,” adds Dr Gangadhar. Stating that COVID-19 has thrown us into a completely uncharted and hostile situation, IHW Council CEO Kamal Narayan said, “Unless addressed on time, this could increase India’s disease burden manifold.”