Are you paying attention to mental health?

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community of allies to heal a mind.”

This is one of the most powerful takeaways I had from Aparna Piramal Raje 's recently published book “Chemical Khichdi: How I Hacked My Mental Health.”

Mental health is an important topic today at the workplace today. The pandemic has deeply impacted our psyches in ways we can’t even imagine. Whether it is burnout, anxiety, lack of motivation or disenchantment with the idea of work itself, employees everywhere are struggling. Everyone could do with a mental health diagnostic to assess the impact it is having on their professional and personal growth as well as fulfilment. Some of us may in fact have symptoms of a serious condition that need to be treated appropriately. Others may have to make adjustments to our lifestyles (sleep, nutrition, movement, meditation) to tend the garden of mental wellness. Wherever you may be on this spectrum, awareness is the starting point.

I highly recommended Aparna’s book. She shares her journey in a very open, honest and authentic manner. Who would have thought that someone from a very affluent family, who studied at Oxford and Harvard, was the CEO of a leading furniture company and then became a successful journalist, had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had struggled to cope with the condition for decades. Through Aparna’s journey we learn more about the condition and its devastating impact on individuals and their families. She clearly?outlines seven therapies that can address mental health issues.?

I enjoyed the khichdi that the book is?- part memoir, part reportage, part self-help guide. Reading Aparna’s journal entries made me viscerally experience what it means to be suffering. Her poems interspersed throughout the book not only show her wonderful talent as a poet but are also enlightening. I greatly enjoyed checking out her spirituality playlist.

The chapter I found most valuable was the last one in which she shares the following reflections on mental health:

- Living with vulnerability is about accepting the difference between personality and illness and learning to love both. Bipolarity was a struggle but it was illuminating once I accepted it.

- The seven therapies are universal and they are complementary.

- Mental health is a team sport.

- Unburdening guilt and realising that everyone needs looking after.?

- Rediscovering agency, not looking at myself as a victim, and learning to live to my full potential.

- A post-Covid realization: mental health can be managed remotely - and globally.?

- Playing opposite-handed.

- Attending to the garden of mental health - every day matters.?

- Discovering the meaning of success, happiness and fulfilment.?

- Life’s a journey not a destination.

- The importance of having conversations with yourself.

“I firmly believe that mental health is the next frontier of science for human beings to have a better life,” says @Narendra Kinger, clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and Founder of Talk To Me Mental Health NGO that makes mental health more accessible and affordable, especially for the underprivileged.?

If you’re not already tending to your mental health or that of your loved ones, I urge you to do so before it is too late.