Workshop on mental health held at Alchemist Hospital
Alchemist Center of Happiness conducted an interactive workshop on mental health at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula today to mark World Mental Health Day.
Speaking on the occasion, Glory K. Singh, psychologist and director at Alchemist Center of Happiness shared that in the high stress times of today, mental health disorders are on the rise. Depression is now the number one cause of disability in the world. It is also one of the leading causes of suicide in India.”
She said that times are changing and people are slowly beginning to talk about mental illness openly, however unfortunately, it still remains a stigma for many, explained Glory. Lack of knowledge about depression also discourages family and friends to take action as symptoms are often confused with laziness or moodiness. This causes a delay in seeking professional help. According to the Mental Health Survey 15-16, the interval between onset of symptoms and seeking help ranges between 1-month to as long as 10-yrs. This delay can be critical in terms of the treatment, she remarked.
Glory further insisted that there is a dire need to end the stigma around depression and other mental health disorders. She urged participants to understand depression and accept it, and then treat it as we would accept any other physical illness.
Talking about roadblocks to treatment, Glory identified that one major roadblock towards tackling the depression epidemic is the lack of understanding and knowledge about depression. As common as the word is these days, most of us aren’t sure what depression really is.
In order to aid understanding about depression, Glory discussed the symptoms and criteria of major and minor depression with participants.
If you or any of your friends or family are suffering, please do not suffer alone and please reach out to others and encourage them to seek professional help. We all need to take steps towards creating an environment where people are encouraged to talk about their mental health without any judgments, summed up Glory Singh.
