Is Mental Health discussion relevant for me!

The 10th October marked 'The World Mental Health Day' and the theme for 2022 was 'Making Mental Health & Well-Being for All a Global Priority.'

As per WHO, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health augmenting short- and long-term stresses and it undermined the mental health of millions. A staggering 84 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced during 2021 which only added to the deterioration of mental health of people.

Mental Health is a crucial part of our well being. Like physical health is nurtured with conscious efforts leading to well-being of a person, mental health is also built through conscious efforts. Else, we would be left to deal with the challenges that get thrown during the phases of life, purely depending on chance.

I remember, a friend of mine, once interrupted a discussion we were having and asked - " what have I got to do with mental health! I don't have a disorder!". For most of us, the thought process is the same. Mental health is not a discussion point in our conversation. It is either for people with diagnosed issues, a disorder or for professionals in the helping profession. A wrong notion indeed! Like physical health is a real thing and is crucial for a person's well-being , mental health is an equally crucial part of his being and well-being. Mind and body are interconnected and they correlate on the health aspects.

It is seen that mental health discussions are perceived to be meant for people with disorders or as topics of relevance only for mental health professionals like psychologists, psychiatrists etc.

So in an effort to bring an understanding of how mental health plays out for a functioning adult, I have penned down some points where it has a role. However, mental health impacts all age groups including kids, children, adolescents, young adults and older adults.

Let's take some practical scenarios when mental health comes into play.

a) Scenario 1: You move from your school/college after being validated for your academics and when you are out in the world, that identity of yours no more gives you the validation you used to get and seek. You are out in the world feeling lost. All of a sudden, you feel like a fish out of water. A mismatch of environmental expectations and how you have come to be, through years of validation.

b) Scenario 2: You are invalidated for low academic performance and then you move out in the world not knowing how you would be accepted and how you would be valuable, when you were not validated in the very Institution you spent many years studying. You question your worth. You feel like a fish out of water.

There is no system that trains you for the real world.

You wonder what is your self-identity. Your mental health comes into play.

c) The transition phase you go through in your roles and challenges you take up as an adult are not similar to the cocooned nest that you were operating from till you were studying. You have to adjust. There is a gap. You wish you were taught how to adapt, learn and master the skill of fitting in well. Your mental health is impacted.

d) The way you spend your day changes totally. You are working for major part of the day. You are accountable for what you do and don't do. The paradigm of routine changes now. No time to laze around and you have to spend hours at work, be in good spirits and do it day after day. You feel stressed. "Young ladkeho, tumhe kya stress hoga!." is the notion. You need happy hormones, belongingness and recognition to experience the positivity. For want of better ways and thanks to easy access, you get hooked to mobile, watching random videos, gaming or smoking, drinking or watching porn videos. It gives you a dopamine high. You feel satisfied but this is not a permanent or a healthy way to getting your needs fulfilled. And then, it takes away more from you than you gain because of its addictive nature, and the wrong expectations you set for people you get into relationship with.

e) When you feel stressed you don't know how to handle your emotions. Should you express it? Should you suppress it? Is it okay to share it with someone? Who should you talk to? Should you talk only about all the wonderful things that you experience? Is expressing vulnerability okay? Is it going to be perceived as weakness? How do you handle anger, jealousy, isolation, sadness, neglect, frustration! You wish you were taught to deal with emotions as you were taught history, mathematics and science.

If you don't know how to take care of yourself, what will you do only with the knowledge of history, civics, programming and business management?

f) When you want to make choices, what are the parameters you should consider? Should you follow your peers? should you base it on your family or financial needs? What are the worthy trade-offs?

g) How do you make people like you, how do you draw people towards you? How do you built strong connection with people? How do you protect your interests while you are eager to make others like you. What are the healthy boundaries and how do you draw it?

h) Do you feel like coming to the office? When you don't feel like it, will you be judged? Can you have conversations with anyone about how you feel? Who is your trusted support system!

i) How do you deal with success and failure from events? How do you deal with feedback, criticism, job loss, from health ups and downs, from relationship setbacks, low performance rating, negligence, challenges thrown by economy, pandemic?

j) How do you give time to children and family while working for livelihood and making ends meet? How do you be a good parent when missing out on either of them raises question on the quality of parenting and discharge of responsibility towards your dependents?

k) How must you set goals? How do you stand up and talk for yourself? Will you sound aggressive and rude if you did? Should you submit and conform? is it okay and how do you reach out to people for talking about your needs? How do you negotiate for your needs in a polite manner? How do you resolve conflicts that may arise in personal and professional life? How do you form and actualize your goals ? How do you make peace with situations when you can't move away?

l) You move to a different city. There is freedom. How should you handle it? How should choose the kind of people to be with, with the new found freedom? How do you adapt to lack of support system that you had back home?

Mental Health initiatives For Leaders of Business Organization-

i) how do you build an environment of Trust in the Organization? What initiatives are provisioned that build an environment of Trust in the leadership, in the organization and amongst employees?

ii) How do you deal with the insecurities of employees? a very relevant question at least in current times.

iii) Could employees come and talk to their leaders about their vulnerabilities?

iv) Are employees recognized for the value they bring as well-being champions for themselves and for other employees?

v) Do the targets include self-care activities as well? Are self-care activities like time-off, mindfulness practice, yoga, family time, play time accorded as work time or break time?

vi) Do you have a provision for one to one counseling of employees? Is the well-being routine championed in the Organization?

vii) Do the junior level employees have access to the senior management (through open door policy) for communicating their ideas and any concerns?

viii) Do you have a provision for review and revising the mental well-being activities in your Organization?

ix) Do you have a budget for mental health and well-being initiatives for employees?

As a shared responsibility, each of us work individually and collectively towards uplifting the mental health of us as well as leading the initiatives in our sphere of influence. I urge each one of you to care for our mental health seriously, nurture and build it.

Mental health is not an area you pay attention to, only when things go wrong, when chronic stress leads to disorders and affect physiological health. Mental Health is the pillar of your life for survival, your normal functioning, for well-being, growth and success in all areas of your life. It needs to be built always and in doing so, you show love, care for and value your life.

#WorldMentalHealthDay2022 #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #wellbeing #mentalhealthforadults #MentalHealthAtWork #emotionalhealth #psychologicalwellbeing #wellbeing #vidyakrishnaswamy