The happy Hormones thus create a happy state of mind.
Eventually, we all should embrace good health and strive towards treating each other with respect, dignity, and kindness.
It’s almost how you intimidate, not where you’re going.” – Noam Shpancer- The correspondent of The Good Psychologist. Straightforward ultimately relevant phrases from a global specialist could not chime truer in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world. According to a study done in 2017 by The Lancet, one in seven Indians was affected by mental health diseases of altering stringency.
The Covid- 19 epidemic has hardly underscored this further. While comprehension about mental health has gone up in the last decade because of the efforts of the NGOs, the pertinent societies (ARDSI, NNDC, etc), and pharmaceutical corporations, it is far from favorable. The myths, taboos, and humiliation attributed to these filaments proceed to be the obstacles to dealing with mental health issues.
aspects of mental health
Let us look at 4 different age groups and the various aspects of mental health with each one of them
School-going kids (9-17 years)
It has now evolved a tendency to tell that “50 is the new 40”, but a tragedy today also is “10 is the new 25”. The ordinary school-going kid today is far further overwhelmed both physically and more so mentally than their companion from a generation ago.
Permit to technology while bringing them digital aboriginals has taken away the reasonable delights that adolescence has to address. They have been spending most of their time gazing at screens and outdoor sport has been renovated by video games. This has significant repercussions on mental and common abilities. Lockdown forced ‘School from home’ which necessitated a new understanding of habitat subtracted from their miseries.
School Mental Health Program (SMHP) has been operating in India for a couple of decades but very intermittently and in a piecemeal way. They help in the all-around development of the student, improving stability and educating them to conquer failure. The need of the hour is a detailed program wherein the government and the schools come jointly to create a framework that is endurable over a long time.
New Adults (18-25 years)
This is where it starts bringing trickier. Career crossroads, puzzled reasoning when it comes to higher education, love life pangs, and coming-of-age individuality search.
This is also the age when suicidal propensities incline to be higher. Not providing the expected results in university and contradiction in love are the two powerful catalysts. Suspicion and depression also set in as they gear up to face real-world challenges. It is an entirely different reality from the rose-tinted lens that the resistant and sheltered world the parents delivered for.
This being a susceptible phase, the support system becomes very critical. The role of the parents and the close friends is important and probably needs a bit of swapping. The parents need to come down from the pedestal of a guardian to be a confidante. Furthermore, the inner circle of friends needs to step up and play the role of guardians when they sense some exposure. Significant relationships and open discussions will go a long way in deterring untoward incidents and irreversible damage.
Middle Age (35-45 years)
The term ‘mid-life crisis’ is considerably ratified and finds its way into informal discussions. This masquerades a bigger problem that runs far deeper. Nonetheless, deliberately but certainly this age band of people is arising to the sensibility and consequence of disregarding mental health. In that respect, Covid-19 was a bit of permission in camouflage.
Companies also prioritized the mental well-being of their employees which were being ignored for a long. Yoga, meditation, and relaxation technique programs have become a part of the workday (WFH or in the office) for the employees and are being funded by the organization. There is also increasing emphasis on the work-life balance. People are encouraged to take up recreational activities or restart a hobby lost due to professional life.
This is where the government needs to ride this wave. Developed countries roughly allocate around 5-18% of their annual healthcare budget to mental health. Meanwhile, India which is taking strides towards being a developed country has the equivalent numbers- an abysmal 0.05%.
Senior citizens (above 60 years)
This is the faction where the needle strode first. It has got to do with age-induced diseases like Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s to appoint a few.
The perception, the apparent symptoms, the position of the Healthcare Practitioner (HCP), the caregiver’s alertness to seek a medical opinion, and the Patient Support Programs (PSPs) run by the pharmaceutical companies and NGOs have all provided the awareness and the therapy of the Central Nervous System (CNS) dilemmas.
The prime factors that affect their mental health care:
Retirement, monetary Issues, loneliness (children outstation or abroad), and reliance on others for mobility and conveyance matters.
In accumulation to clinical prognosis, consuming time with them and making them feel like is a nostrum. At this period, there is an improving perception of the absence of self-worth and that needs to be expressed at a subjective intimate phase.
An abundant crucial facet of taking care of mental health
Acknowledging and realizing the need to do so. Formerly accomplished, the journey evolves simpler with the comfort of a good assistance system, medical intervention, and a proportional lifestyle.
Beyond the one-on-one interaction between the HCP and the patient and the caregiver and patient, it must move to a larger level. There is a need for developing community-based rehabilitation programs, capacity building, and developing a holistic primary healthcare system.
10th October is commemorated as World Mental Health Day and this year the principle is ‘Make Mental Health & Well-Being for All a Global Priority.
Each one of us can play our part in taking care of our own, our sudden family, and our close friend circle’s mental well-being. Speak up, listen well, seek guidance, and be there for your loved ones- it can make a world of discrepancy.
THE GENERATION OF 21st IS MOST ANXIETY ONE:
According To WHO’s mental health data shows 0.6 percent or about 264 million individuals worldwide are affected by anxiety. Read more…
