Host: Dr. Varun Gandhi
In Conversation with: Raghu Appasani, MD; Shamini Jain, PhD; Poonacha Machaiah; Vaidehi Gajjar; Vikas P. Srivastava
Collaborators include: Consciousness and Healing Initiative, The MINDS Foundation, DAYA Houston, SAMHAA, We are Saath, Joy of Sharing, Sahara, Sahaas for Cause, South Asian Today, Mai Family Services, IAGC
You’re depressed - “He must be a loser!”
Judgement is a fierce and swift sword that cuts the unfathomable out of society.
In fear of judgement, we are forced to suppress it and to turn our inner eyes away from the conflict. This saves us from facing a societal wrath that ranges from isolation to “Paagal ho gaya (They’ve gone mad!)” This is not okay - someone who’s already depressed doesn’t have the capacity to fight these labels.
Surveys of people living in larger cities in India have shown that 47% people who are relatively more aware of mental illnesses yet they show stigma by judging to the extreme, 26% are fearful of people with mental illness calling them a ‘retard’, believing that people with mental illness is prone to violence, and should be excluded from society. Only 27% people show support of those with mental illness and are compassionate towards them.
My contention to you is why do we have to shun something we haven’t experienced before or that we are unfamiliar with? The perceptions surrounding mental illness, psychologists, and counseling have desensitized people towards mental illnesses.
Now it’s up to us to reduce this stigma by having an open discussion. Its up to us to normalize the idea of seeking support for themselves and reaching out to their loved ones to support them. It’s up to us to educate and make people aware of the role of mental health in our overall well-being.
Please join me in this effort and continue this important conversation so we can reach out to more people and support them in their journeys.
