newznew (Chandigarh) : “We often avoid discussing mental health because of fear, stigma or simply not knowing what to say. But this may make matters worse. Support from friends, family and health professionals plays a significant role in a loved one’s recovery process. You can make a big difference through small gestures, like listening, keeping in touch and showing you care.”
This was stated by Dr Vidhu Mohan a known behavioral science expert and renowned psychologist of the region while speaking at a discussions on Mental Health which was organized by Empower-Joy to mark World Heath Day at Sector 10 here yesterday.
Empower-Joy project has been established under the aegis of Joy Lall Memorial Educational Society . The main objective of project is to amalgamate the special children and differently abled children with the mainstream society and to increase their interaction with people.
Dr Mohan explained that why the WHO’s focus was on the mental health. She sited three reasons for it; one is that mental disorder constitute very large part of the total burden of health. The second reason she gave was that recent research in medical field has given more information about the mental disorders. The third reason was that the cost effective methods for the treatment of such diseases were available.
Bharati Kapoor a co-founder of Empower-Joy said that mental health suffers from a major image problem. One in every four people experiences mental health issues — yet more than 40 percent of countries worldwide have no mental health policy. Across the board it seems like we have no idea how to talk about it respectfully and responsibly.
Sharmita Bhinder co-founder of Empower-Joy and herself mother of an autistic child said that it’s not always easy to tell if someone has a mental illness. It’s important to raise your concerns with them, even though they might deny the problem and be reluctant or refuse to get help. They may react with anger, shame or embarrassment.
Meanwhile Empower-Joy is doing many projects to build equal status to special people and have opened a center for specific learning disability and challenges with reading writing high functioning autism.