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Important Reminders About Mental Well-Being

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You can’t control everything. Often times you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. But sometimes you should seek professional help. When we fall sick, we take medication and move on. However, when it comes to mental illness, it is not so simple.

Our mental health is not static, it’s changeable and dependent on a number of factors. The very nature of mental health is that it depletes energy resources. The emotional labour is unseen and unacknowledged in our culture. So when we exhaust all our mental and emotional energies, we don’t realise how to tackle the tiredness that follows, until it directly impacts our physical health. Unfortunately, it takes a burnout to highlight the need for professional intervention. Most often than not we keep on struggling with depression and anxiety without actually calling it depression or anxiety. Social media or pop culture may temporarily give us relief, but sometimes the romanticised notions of mental health, displayed in artsy The Artidote posts or movies that show the suicidal girl like a hot mess, make the situation worse. They invalidate the non-glamorous versions of our mental struggles and in that situation, we need some gentle reminders. Here are some of them.

Factors which play an important role in affecting our mental health:

  • Comparisons- We often compare ourselves to others. Our friends, colleagues, family members, and even those who we don’t know. Our social media is filled with smiling faces, achievements, and success. It can appear as though everyone’s life is perfect except for ours. Social media is not an accurate representation of real life. People rarely post the bad bits. We use filters to hide how tired we are. We crop out the people we’ve argued with. Unconsciously, or consciously we all create our Facebook timelines and Instagram profiles to be the best images of our lives.
  • Loneliness- Many people experience this feeling at some point in time in their lives. Even when people are surrounded by a number of friends, the feeling does not go away. Such a prolonged feeling of loneliness can have a serious effect on our mental health. Loneliness as a factor affecting one’s mental health and sometimes it becomes a by-product of other mental health issues.
  • Bullying and Abuse- An unhealthy environment that includes any kind of abuse, whether verbal, physical, sexual, or psychological, can make it nearly impossible to achieve peace of mind. The after effects of abuse can stay with the victims for years, and some abuse victims experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • Proper Sleep- A sound sleep is an unrecognised factor by many people. It can have a major impact on our daily functioning, mood, concentration, and memory. Having a regular sleeping pattern with at least seven-eight hours of sleep is recommended for a healthy lifestyle.
  • Genetics: Simply put, if you have a family history of mental illness then you are more susceptible to it.

There are times when we often blame ourselves for certain things and situations. We can be really harsh on ourselves without realising. Nobody is perfect and there will be times when you have to breathe and let go of the things that hurt you. We deserve to forgive ourselves.

Few simple steps can bring about many changes in one’s life and improve emotional well-being and mental health.

  • Tell something positive to yourself every day.
  • Write down the best moments in your life and read them whenever you feel low.
  • Eat a nutritious meal and have healthy sleeping habits.
  • Help someone. This builds self-esteem.
  • Identify the trigger points and avoid them.
  • Take a break.
  • Don’t shy away from asking for help.
  • Don’t shy away from refusing to help if it’s taking a toll on you. Realise that you are not a professional counsellor and the emotional cost of listening to others and helping them resolve their conflicts can harm you in the process.
  • Prioritise yourself and seek therapy/medication/help that you need. It is normal.

Let’s own up to our not okay-ness and have faith in ourselves. As Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh says,  “Promise me you’ll always remember – you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

 

Feature Image Credits: BBC

Anoushka Sharma

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DUB Speak

LGBTQIA Student’s Mental Health Day

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Statistics may show LGBTQ people to be more prone to diseases and issues but who addresses them?

Statistics-based pieces are quite often headlined along the lines of LGBTQ people more prone to mental illness and HIV/AIDS than the rest of the population. While it may indeed be quantitatively true, yet no one ever bothers to address the situation at its core.
Allyship between the cisgenderheterosexuals of today resonates with the Kanye-Donald Trump duo. Clueless at best and narcissistic at worst. A series of “I Love Yous” and rainbow flags during the pride parade, followed by “But, I can’t be Queer-phobic, I have a gay friend” is the end-all for allies. Treated like the next Instagram trend, the community may be visible now, but the idea of affirmative action, and equal rights seem to be a far-farced dream.
Though the Victorian-era Section 377 was recently amended, several other problems still exist that require ally
accountability. Bullying, ignorance, discrimination, custodial violence, and lack of civil liberties continue to be a living reality for queer individuals of the country. Desperately waiting at closet doors, the community awaits their welcome to the living room and eventually, in a room of their own.
Simply put, it is not that being queer preposes the demise of their mental health, rather, it is their condition in the society that is nonconducive to an able mind. Living in ignorant, if not intolerant families and neighbourhoods, takes a toll on the community members mental health, after which statistics start forming and disorders start aggrevating.
Now that the cause and effect have been deconstructed, the course of remedy becomes easier to understand. Creating safe spaces, relieving trauma, enforcing equal rights, and changing societal notions can alone establish an acceptable social framework and throw a gauntlet down to neural irregularities. Yet, the idea of giving an effeminate man or a trans-woman space in society, and not punchlines, still doesn’t sit right amongst the homophobic population.
This narrow mindset may take years to break, legal action including same sex marriages and adoptive rights along with inclusion of community issues in medical syllabi need urgent attention. Even little things like gender neutral bathrooms can have a positive effect on one’s self-esteem and self-worth.
Within the student community, we must facilitate the acceptance of our queer classmates by increasing their presence in student unions followed by a deeper understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality can help shape a better opinion. Services of professional counsellors in the University space is highly needed. Queer collectives and support groups should be encouraged in colleges. Often, a consolidated student community in a college helps provides them the free space to explore their identity and individuality.
Though, it sounds too idealistic when compared to the decades of protest it took to strike down segments of Section 377, it is what it will take the LGBTQ community to finally greet their counterparts a congratulatory Mental Health Day every 10th October.

Feature Image Credits: Ayush Chauhan for DU Beat

Raabiya

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An Appeal to My Toxic Psychology Professor

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Across the world, 10th October is regarded as World Mental Health Day. This write-up is dedicated to those, who ideally should have been the loudest advocates of the institution of awareness about mental health, but are quietly complacent.

“Dear Professor,
I wasn’t feeling my best that week, when you were teaching us about anxiety and the numerous diagnosable disorders that surround it. The week before that, you taught us about depression, and how it affects the mental and physical well being of a human being. Next up, in the listing of the syllabus, was a unit on stress. I thought I could confide in you and speak openly about the hypocritical issues with the way we study. But then I came to the slow and painful realisation, that you too, are a contributor to this system, and through your complacence, encourage it and its toxic mode of operation. I realised, that you too, encourage and actively contribute to the venomous environment, which overburdens students to make them thrive. The same system, which so vehemently goes against the subject you preach and love to teach.”
The discussion around mental health is ambiguous because of the fact that its due importance is not explained to us from an early age. The same can be said for many other avenues in society that exercise significant influence on our lives, but are never explained to us. Subjects like sex education, caste issues, sexism, class issues, patriarchy, and many others that are outside the ambit of this letter, but equally important to discuss. The above mentioned letter is not meant to attack teachers or professors of psychology for committing a cardinal sin. It is to highlight the duplicity and pretence of the arrangement of schooling in status quo, to raise much needed questions about the lack of dissent from the stakeholders in this challenging circumstance, namely the academica—teachers and professors.

Matters that need to be highlighted and brought to the forefront are often hushed because talking about them is inconvenient. This deliberate silence brands these sensitive concerns negatively and discourages any discussion that surrounds them. Breaking the glass ceiling, in this scenario, seems impossible due to the very fact that it is the institution of education that holds the power to build generations, as it has been intended to do since the academic concept originated. In our country, the system of edification has innately transcended into a trap, rather than an open and liberal space which allows one to learn, grow, and facilitate the development of an individual. Well-to-do middle and upper-middle class families have access to resources using which they can attain access to an education that offers insight into global values and meets international standards.
These students are more or less enrolled into a “second school” where they gain knowledge about things that the existing structure fails to teach. But establishments in rural areas (where awareness about such issues is of utmost importance) lack the vocabulary and supplies required to materialise a fruitful teaching about mental health. If you go to a remote village or a small town in a corner of the state you live in, and ask locals to speak about mental health, they would probably deny even the existence of such a phenomenon.

 

Bhavya Banerjee

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Bharati College Student Allegedly Commits Suicide in College, Points to Mental Health Crisis in DU

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A tragedy stuck Bharati College on Wednesday when an 18-year-old BA Programme second year allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide in the college’s washroom. No suicide note was recovered from the victim and the police is still investigating the case.

The Hindustan Times reported that the police control room received a call at 9:50 a.m. regarding a suicide in the college. A police team was rushed to the campus who found the student, identified as Vicky Kumari, unconscious inside a toilet which was bolted from inside. She was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. One of the student wen

“A bottle of pesticide was found in the toilet. We checked her bag and found a small knife that was used for cutting paper. Neither the student’s mobile nor suicide note was not found,” said Mr. Vijay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West). “We searched her house but found nothing useful. Her cell phone call records are being analysed,” he added.

According to the college authorities, the victim had reached college around 8:30 a.m. as she had to attend her 9 a.m. class. She later went to the toilet but didn’t return which prompted her classmates to check on her. They raised an alarm when the victim didn’t respond to the knocks on the washroom door.

Her mother, subsequent to the reception of this unexpected news lost her consciousness and was taken to the hospital for first aid. The College Principal has issued a statement on the college website.

principal

In the light of this tragedy, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad led Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU)  has proposed Wellness Cells in all Delhi University Colleges that will be primarily dedicated to the mental health of the students. They have also demanded a proper check or a survey initiated by the DU administration on the availability and appointments of professional counselors in DU.

Speaking to DU Beat, Mahamedha Nagar, General Secretary, DUSU, said,” “This is an unfortunate incident. There’s been an exponential growth in the suicidal tendencies amongst the youth. They see suicide as an easy resolution to their issues. A necessity at this moment is to come up with ideas to expose pupils to the immaturity behind such ideas and make them stronger. I have moved a proposal to establish a Wellness Cell within the University and I expect it to pull through and be fully functional latest by the end of this academic year.”

According to the Bharati College counselor, Dr. Sonali Jain, “The college does have an infrastructure and a psychodynamic counselor, who is trained in her profession.  Long-term therapy isn’t always possible, so we provide them (patients) with short-term therapy. In case of a long-term therapy, The patient is made to lie for 45 minutes and open up to a counselor, in the presence of a trained supervisor. The suicide victim never turned up for therapy or to share her problem.”

Although the  Bharati College claims to have established a cell as an outlet of the depressed upsurges of the students, the pupils aren’t satisfied by its constitution. It lacks a professional therapist and instead makes do with an English professor, who doubles up as the therapist.

While the Police continue with their investigation- filtering through call records and interrogating near and dear ones, the issue needs to be given profound gravity and adequate steps need to be taken, in order to avoid such sorrowful instances in the future. If you are feeling unwell and depressive, and are having self-harming thoughts then call on the 24 x 7 suicide helpline number: 022 2754 6669

Feature Image Credits: South Call

Aashish Jain 

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DUB Speak

Mental Health Issues in Young Adults

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Our generation is suffering from increased mental health problems and it is time we started talking about it.

All of us know at least someone who is either suffering from anxiety or depression. This is because we, as a generation, are putting too much stress on ourselves. We battle more than one fight every day and still try to land on our two feet. We put on a brave face and keep fighting the fight. However, what we need to understand is that while waging our internal wars, it is okay to talk about our vulnerabilities with someone.

It is hard to point out one specific reason as to why our generation is much more prone to anxiety or depression. It may be because we are the first to have felt an overwhelming presence of the Internet and social media in our lives. We consciously or unconsciously play the game of faking happiness on social media. Such an exhaustive exercise is certainly going to hinder our peace of mind. This perfection and competitive streak takes a toll on our life. On top of it all, there is a taboo attached to mental health. Therefore, when we see our friends struggling with it, we have no idea about how to approach them and be of any help.

Mental health is undoubtedly a sensitive problem which requires delicate treatment. Therefore, due to the sensitivity of the issue and lack of proper knowledge, it becomes really difficult to approach our acquaintances when we know they are suffering. We are not equipped to tackle their behaviour. However, I have found out that it is not about what we do exactly but the fact that we are there for them. In the long run just being present and initiating a conversation goes a long way. Trying to establish a conducive environment for such talks is the need of the hour because millennials are succumbing to health problems.

 

Feature Image Credits: BARE JokesZ

Anukriti Mishra
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Mapping the Presence of Mental Health Services in DU

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Gazing around the empty room and suffocating walls, I typed ‘How to  commit suicide’ on Google and the first result that appeared was the contact number of Aashra Helpline. I am a strong girl wrapped in untold stories of dark phases of life. The society perceives me as a confident and happy girl, but when I enter my room I ask myself if life is worth living. Maybe that night the voice of a stranger sitting far away from me, convinced me to give life a chance but I wonder why there is an absence of voice near to us.

The University of Delhi provides free counselling sessions to students and faculty members to help them cope with stress. At present, the ‘Mind Body Centre’ located in DU’s North Campus offers face-to-face counselling to girl students and faculty members. The helpline that was started by DU in 2015, however, caters to queries and offers therapy to all students irrespective of gender. However, has the helpline helped is significantly impacting mental health amongst students?

Despite similar services offered to students, almost every year approximately five students of the University commit suicide due to various reasons ranging from rejection in love, poor academic performance, family issues, and depression. The lack of professional counselling centers in colleges can be seen as a prime reason behind this. Moreover, the lack of awareness of such services in the student community is partially responsible for creating these issues. More often than not, a student looks for a listening ear and non-judgemental atmosphere.

Every hour, one student commits suicide in India, according to the 2015 data (the latest available) from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). In 2015, the number of student suicides stood at 8,934. In the five years leading to 2015, 39,775 students killed themselves. The number of attempted suicides, many unreported, is likely to be much higher. India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29, according to this 2012 Lancet report.

Speaking to a professional can help one in understanding what the student need. This can range from self-help tips and breathing exercises to a course of psychotherapy and medication. Everyone is different and will need differing levels of support.

 

Feature Image Credits: HR Review

 

Naimisha

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Hope: The Scientifically Proven Mental Shield

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In a recent study, it was proved that hope protects our brain from anxiety and expands our understanding.

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. It has been a stimulator, a motivator, and at times, the only positive force left in us when we are going through our bad times. Just like any other feeling, hope is intangible and unseen, yet it has been ever-present in us. And its presence has finally been identified by science.

In a recent study, Chinese psychologists found out that hope protects our brain from anxiety and expands our understanding of things that are happening as reported by Big Think. Defining hope as an important term in positive psychology, scientists conducted a survey on 231 students and found out that hope trait was related to the brain region that is involved in the reward-related procession, motivation production, and goal-oriented behaviour. “ Overall, this study provides the first evidence for functional brain substrates underlying trait hope and reveals a potential mechanism that trait hope mediates the protective role of spontaneous brain activity against anxiety” the researchers quoted as per the website.

Anxiety has long been the cause of our mental struggles. Anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, hypertension, and so much more, it is anxiety that has aided these diseases. Not necessarily as a disease, but people suffer from anxiety in various situations. In all those times when we were helpless, when we could feel that chill down our spine, when our mind was contemplating scenarios we feared to face, or creating illusions that demoralised us – we hoped. We simply sat there and hoped that things would be fine. We hoped that we would not have to endure the trauma, the stress, the pain, or the anxiety for long. We hoped that someone, somewhere, somehow could save us from all that was happening, or was about to happen.

Turns out, we were “the one” we were looking for, and hope was “the how” that protected our brain. The positive force that we clung on to in anonymity was actually helping us survive our mental battles and shielding us from all the negative forces trying to let us down. Science recognising hope as the protective force justifies all the endurance that we made all this while. This study proves that being hopeful protects our brain from harmful thoughts. It proves that we have a positive force within us that helps us combat all the negativity and gives us the strength to keep going. We should take this research as a benchmark and be ready to face whatever comes our way for all of us know that we have what it takes to wade through deep waters.

 

Feature Image Credits: ThinkingWords

Karan Singhania
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Arts & Culture

Celebrating Mental Well-being at Cluster Innovation Centre

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Held on the 24th and 25th of October, the two-day event saw an array of activities devoted to the cause of raising awareness about mental health issues.

Students of B.A. Honours (Humanities & Social Sciences) celebrated a two-day Mental Health Awareness Week at the Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC), University of Delhi.

The first day began with a panel discussion on the topic, ‘Sorting Through Gender Identity, Sex, and Sexual Orientation’. Bhani Rachel Bali, the creator and founder of Kranti Kali, a startup that promotes feminism through art and technology, spoke about online harassment of women.  Taksh Sharma, a model, brought light to the transgender perspective through her personal experiences as a trans woman. Rakesh Kumar Singh is an author, activist, and founder of Ride for Gender Freedom, an initiative that aims to sensitise people about gender-based violence, talked about male privilege and the ways in which men can be good allies in feminist movements.

After the panel discussion, a workshop on menstrual hygiene was conducted by the students of CIC belonging to the Menstruation is Not a Taboo (MINT) Project. A quiz contest on mental well-being and psychology took place. Adil Jacob and Siddharth Garg from Jamia Millia Islamia won the competition. The first day of MHW came to a close with the film screening of the Academy award-winning movie, The Danish Girl.

The second day started with Living Stories, a project that initiates conversations between a person who acts as a book and others who come as readers. This edition of the project was solely dedicated to mental health.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic, “What’s depressing the millennials?” One of the panelists, Simran Luthra, the founder and curator of Talk Happy Therapy, an initiative which works for mental health awareness, shared her experiences of dealing with people with depression. Subhra Solanki is a guest lecturer at Jamia Millia Islamia, and discussed the problem of rigidity Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Slam poetry competition on the topic, ‘When Love Checks In’ saw 14 participants perform moving pieces of the spoken word that was followed by a special performance by slam maestro and judge, Shibani Das. Riah Rath from CIC won the competition and Aditya Kapur from Motilal Nehru College came second.

In the late afternoon, a cultural extravaganza hosted an array of wonderful performances. Rubhen D’sa, the founder of Taameer, a Delhi-based social community, shared fun stories about his travels. He was followed by Prateek Sachdeva, self-identifying Drag Queen, who entertained the audience with a stunning dance performance. Devang Panday and Apurv Chatterjee, students of DU, serenaded the audience with a medley of hit songs.  Zikr, the dramatics society of Cluster Innovation Centre, also performed a short but impactful play, narrating the story of a young gender-nonconforming boy.

 

In the end, the prize distribution ceremony took place and Mr. Ashu Mishra, Assistant Professor, CIC gave an exhortation speech. The event came to close with the vote of thanks.

 

Image Credits: Ened D’souza (From the left: Rakesh Singh, Bani Rachel Bali, and Taksh Sharma.)

Image Caption: The first day of Mental Health Awareness Week began with a panel discussion on Gender Sensitisation

 

Niharika Dabral
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Arts & Culture

Spoon University: Of The Scars That Don’t Show: Tame the Stigma, not the Human

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Spoon University Delhi Chapter has initiated a campaign called Of The Scars That Don’t Show: Tame the Stigma, not the Human with the intention of spreading awareness about mental health and acknowledgement of related issues.

The idea behind the campaign as pointed out by Niharika Maggo, the Editorial Director at Spoon DU, came up about because the issue was a personal belief. “Mental Health awareness is a cause very close to the heart of the Spoon UDelhi team and despite great strides in our understanding of mental illnesses and improvements in the efforts surrounding it, too many still suffer in silence.

That’s why we wanted to build an open dialogue that not only lets people share their experiences and thoughts but also encourages support and respect for those struggling with mental illnesses.” she mentions

They recruited ambassadors for the cause, whom they call Mental Health Heroes

(Album on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/788989617848556/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1278266235587556 )

These MHHs have been instrumental in spreading a word about the campaign and bringing more people to commence a dialogue.

Kritika Narula, Founder of the chapter, explains how the idea evolved.

“We began with the idea that we will serve as a platform where to use our reach to eliminate the stigma around mental health. The idea was to bring as much attention to the invisible Scars as to the physical ones.

From where we started almost a month back, we have now become a platform for vent and expression, what with the numerous stories of healing and ‘being there for loved ones through mental illnesses’ pouring in from all directions.

It has truly been a privilege to have started this campaign and get the opportunity to act as an outlet for expression. Healing through expression became our motto in no time.”

The same belief is held by Manya Sinha, a Mental Health Advocate from DCAC who says,”Browsing through people’s account and details of the same mental illness that I had gave me a sense of relief. Relief, because it assured me that I am not alone. Relief because I could always reach out to them and find comfort in the understanding. This is why I believe that this initiative is important because we never know who we are helping with our stories and our experiences. It is important to heal together.”

They have also received wishes from The Artidote founder Jova, who appreciated their efforts in a personal communication, who stated he is glad they’re also working towards raising mental health to have the same societal importance as our physical health.

They are also launching a e-magazine called An Ode To Semi Colon, which has received entries from professionals and students alike.

They have been regularly posting stories and poetic pieces that reek of vulnerability and expression of mental illnesses.

 

(Some examples: https://www.facebook.com/events/1231206973642919/permalink/1272757906154492/

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1231206973642919/permalink/1262552813841668/

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1231206973642919/permalink/1272757906154492/#)

 

Maggo adds, “The response we received was heartwarming. With entries giving us a varied perspective, be it a patient’s point of view or a psychologist/ psychology teacher’s. We hope this campaign triggers a change, even if it’s not effected immediately. We hope that people recognise the scars that don’t show and also firmly believe that it’s not the end.

The campaign will culminate in an event called Spoon Summit 2.0 on 1st April 2017, at Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Center ND Tiwari Bhawan ITO from 12 noon. The line-up of speakers performers and panelists includes people who have themselves suffered from depression, anxiety etc. Those who use art as an outlet and specialists from the field.

 

Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1231206973642919/

Registration Link: https://goo.gl/forms/slv9J6tiopGWvqFM2

 

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