With the ongoing , Mental Health Awareness Week, OoWomaniya supports the initiative and pledges to contribute in the drive to spread the awareness about mental health issues persisting in our society, that are prevalent irrespective of caste, creed and even socio-economic status people. Mental health issues like Anxiety, Depression, Stress, Bipolar disorder, Eating disorders etc. are very common these days. Mental health issues are acquired from the experiences we come across each day that may lay impact on our minds and its impact can also be seen on the health, behavior, temperament and thoughts of the patient.

Most of the mental health problems can be diagnosed by a psychiatrist or a certified counselor and yes, they can be treated and the person can come back to feeling good. Having a Mental Health problem is not a “paagalpan”, this mentality in the society leads to many people facing such issues to succumb to their problems, accept it to be a part of them and prevent them from asking for help. DO NOT do that. Just like your physical health is important, Mental Health is equally important to your well-being and it is something that needs clinical attention and managing the root cause of the problem.

Recently, a successful Bollywood actress on a peak of her career, Deepika Padukone, came out publicly and talked about her Depression problem, the emptiness, exhaustion and pressure her life had brought upon her despite of being rewarded with accolades for her work, Bollywood blockbusters, brand endorsements, hefty pay cheques and a diva life. The actress who has overcome her depression by taking help from a mental health professional at right time and with a good peers support from her mother, now wants to spread more awareness about mental health, lifting the taboo over it  and encourage people to appropriately deal and manage their Mental Health problems. We appreciate, Deepika’s courage behind speaking out about her fears, insecurities and revealing her own story despite of being a public figure, all without the fear of getting judged.  Because, if it has happened to YOU, IT IS OKAY!

Nitesh Mohanty, a visual artist, has a very profound view and an individual observation on Mental Health, why Depression has become common problem for many of us……and how we can make a difference for betterment of ourselves and others……

“……….For a very long time I’ve was meaning to write about something that Deepika Padukone recently spoke in one of her most revealing interviews in an article, where she speaks out about her battle with Depression. Like it or not, we tend to look up to people in cinema, sports, fashion. Making them our role models for what they stand up for. Like it or not, we tend to follow their endorsements. Like it or not, we generally draw a picture of them based on what cause they support, what tea they sell. But it’s very rare to have a actor, sports person, literary figure, musician, fashion idol come out in the open, baring their fears, insecurities, inability to cope with the pressure. Well, they are people like us ~ you & me……They are doing their ‘Job’, getting paid, coming home to sleep, with or without their loved ones.

I look around and see a whole lot of people battling the same battles within their sphere of Life. The urge to become something, the desire to reach somewhere, be accepted, noticed, acknowledged, heard, loved, admired. Burdened with the mantle of having to prove it to the self & others. To go on & make it out there. Straddled with a sky full of ambitions, trying to swim across an unending sea of aspirations.

And while striving to “Make it”. We tend to lose the real meaning of life, we drift, we drown, we quietly succumb to the demands. And unknowingly it becomes a way of life……

We don’t even realize how far we’ve been sucked into our own darkness, till it hits us…..Then we are termed “clinically depressed”. Our friends drift away from us. It becomes a humiliation to cope with for our families. We are mostly stigmatized & we erode furthermore. And why does this eat into us…? Probably because in spite of living in a world filled with friends we don’t have a single person in whom we could confide, share, let it out. In spite of having our own family, we fear of being judged by our Loved ones……In spite of everyone joining in for a happy birthday celebration or a house warming party; there isn’t a single soul who we could reach out in the middle of the night, when our greatest fears are piercing into us…….Or maybe we aren’t so good at speaking out our pain, grief, agonies & sorrows as much as we happily share our achievements, success & glories.

So what does it take to JUST BE THERE?? Just to be there without telling, “Don’t worry it’ll be okay”… Without trying to FIX IT… Without being patronizing… Without the urge to find a blame or a solution… Sometimes there’s no one to blame… No easy solution… You just have to be there as a silent shoulder to rest on, as a hand to hold, as a friend to cry with…

We all have been suicidal at some point of our lives.

When nothing seems to be working, nothing going our way, when you don’t seem loved enough, when no one seems to understand you, when the world seems like a lonely place, when you’re too tired of battling the everyday, fighting the ghosts outside & within, when there’s no urge to carry on… No motivation to Live…

Then all you’re looking outside for is a sign. It comes to us sometimes as a song, a poem, a quote that we embrace so dearly & make it ours. Sometimes its a post by a stranger or an article letting you know that YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE.

Yes, in some sense we all are alike, you, me, all of us… We are just lost, trying to find ourselves in the other… Trying to find meaning, joining the dots, finding resonances, trying to find ways to understand the self through the other…

So the least you can do is try & be there for that someone. It could be your own mother, father, sister, brother, your best friend, or that distant yet dear acquaintance, or even a stranger. Just be there in whatever capacity you can, cause someday it could be you, who needs a hand to cling on to. A person who can bring upon a moment which just could save your Life.

Don’t give up yet……”

Have any Mental Health related issue or is something bothering you emotionally ? Talk to our Counselor here.

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