Launch of Mental Health and Well-being Program
Nirmaan along with its partners has launched a campaign around Mental Health and make well being a priority. This will be an opportunity for people with mental health conditions, to come together to recognize the developments in this field and to be vocal about the same. The chief guests were Dr. Vimala Thomas (Director – TIMS and Siddipet Medical college), guest of honor was Siva Bavanari – (Sr. Executive – CSR at Cognizant), Nitin Sharma (Director, patent at Qualcomm) and Kavitha Natarajan (Sr CSR Professional, social work at CGI, counselling psychologist).
National Doctors Day, a day marked to acknowledge the contributions of physicians. This day is celebrated annually in the memory of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy an eminent physician, academician, freedom fighter and politician. It is celebrated on July 1st, throughout the country. The day is celebrated to acknowledge and appreciate the doctors and their contribution towards society. But doctors also say there is a distinct stigma in medicine about mental health as even doctors get afflicted by mental health. We even celebrate nurses day to thank all the nurses for their constant support and comfort towards the patients.
Many aspects of mental health have been challenged. Before the pandemic in 2019 an estimated one in eight people globally were having mental health issues. The services, skills and funding available for mental health remain in short supply, and fall below what is needed. We can come together to create awareness about the same by being proactive and learning about mental health. We desire to live in a world in which mental health is valued, promoted and protected.
AWARENESS INITIATION IN MENTAL HEALTH (AIM)
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". Many people are facing mental health issues but they dont speak up as physical health due to societal norms.
To help people know their mental health, get treated and cured and lead a happy life, Nirmaan has started a program, ‘AWARENESS INITIATION IN MENTAL HEALTH (AIM)’.
Objectives :
Implementation :
As a pilot project, we have selected 6 Nirmaan skill centres and completed 35 sessions involving approximately 900 participants. We are also in the process of designing, phase wise implementation of mental health programmes in future.
Topics That Are Covered :
The Following topics have been covered in the sessions :
- How to deal with exam/interview failure
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Addictions
- Abuse
- Sleep disorders
- Somatic symptom disorder
- Dissociative disorder multiple disorders
- Eating disorders
- Suicidal
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Phobias
- Stress management
TRAINING OF THE FACILITATOR :
Training of the facilitator is done by professional head. They get trained on the questionnaire ensuring participation with utmost results. Questionnaires are a diagnostic scale which includes varied number of questions with multiple answers (range and intensity) that can be used in small sectors. Every disorder has its own kind of scales. They are validated and approved with reliability and accuracy by a psychiatrist. Further doubts and questions will be discussed in live Q & A sessions that are conducted weekly and people who were found to have a psychiatric diagnosis will be treated accordingly.
RESULTS :
This will be a continuous process which happens at all Nirmaan skill centers. With this program, students and other staff can be aware of mental health. We can help them to get treated and develop confidence to come out and seek for help, just like physical illness.