World Mental Health Day

10th October is declared as the World Mental Health Day. So, what are we all doing to enhance our focus on Mental Health? There is a mad rush to gain memberships to gyms, classes on Pilates, marathons, runs, etc., etc. How many of us can openly speak about our mental health issues which quietly harbors the inner recesses of our minds and, without our knowledge, creeps around us, taking all the vitality of life within us?

Yesterday, I had an odd chance to watch a television show about a competitive talent hunt. One of the items presented on stage was a group of youngsters all looking withdrawn and zoned out and then they danced to a depressive tune which threw out their inner pain and sadness onto the stage. and I saw people clapping for their exceptional performance!!! Here I was thinking, along with my husband, when we were at that ripe age of 18, all we wanted was to live, look forward to the evenings with our friends, live our dreams, and wanted everything life could offer to us. What has happened since then?

As I discuss at home with my children, I hear more stories of their friends and how they, themselves, sometimes are quietly fighting an inner battle. I even wonder how many families encourage open conversations around this and are open for our folks to seek help and take help to resolve and recover.

About a few years back, the death in the family left a profound impact on me. It perhaps was the closest experience of death I had. Just feeling it for months and days left me in a state of unexplained anguish. I did not realize it, nor did my body. I never thought it had any impact on me. I thought I had moved on, But it was reflected in many behaviors that had onset upon me - inexplicable, and I could not fathom what was going wrong. Migraine pains took over my physical being, and the inability to see joy around me was saturating. I began to lose interest in several things: I turned cynical, I took the counter pills to kill my pain, and when that did not help, a friend who practices Homeopathy spoke to me at length and helped me discover that a lot of what I was going through was due to stress and an on setting depression. She put me on the first set of medicines.

I never ever opened out on this topic with anybody, and today is probably the first time I am picking up the courage to do so.

It was then I took help. I sought the support of a therapist, which was an online program sponsored by my company. later someone introduced me to Inner Engineering. I took to it with a degree of reluctance and disbelief that a simple 21-minute meditation would help. I continued practicing it simply because of the group support I got, and then, without my own knowledge, things began to change at the core of my own being. I began to witness I had more time to offer to the world. I was smiling more, being more resilient, and becoming less impulsive and reactive. The pandemic came, and it hurt, but I realized I was handling myself better than most around me. The magic of the mind continues even today to unfurl and get the best of me each day.

So why am I sharing this story? There are millions among us, who just don't know the dark hues that overshadow their persona. Can we be of help to them? Those of us who are in influential positions in corporations, can we make a commitment to create an environment where people can access help for their mental wellbeing? Can we encourage conversations that will help people redeem themselves?