WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

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Every year, on October 10, World Mental Health Day is celebrated across the globe to highlight the importance of mental health. 



Mental health is not merely the absence of mental illnesses. According to World Health Organization (WHO), "mental health is a state of well-being that involves realizing one's abilities, coping with stress, working productively and contributing to society."

We often seek help from mental health professionals only after we have exhausted all other options and while engaging in psychological therapies and/or taking medications may be the first step towards our mental health, it is, nonetheless not the last one. 

In fact, we need to take care of our mental health from early on and not just when we have reached the limits of our psychological resources and unable to cope up.

Mental health issues are not something that happens overnight, although the symptoms might progress rapidly over days or even hours. For almost every case, subtle changes have been happening over days, weeks, months or even years which we are unaware of or in many cases, ignored or neglected, giving ourselves plenty of reasons for not seeking help. 

Sometimes our mind will send the signals, sometimes the body will give indications that may hint towards our depleting mental health and if we seek professional help at that stage, maybe we can prevent further downhill progression.

Keeping in line with the theme of this year’s mental health day ‘It is time to prioritize mental health in workplace’, I would like to add that we must prioritize mental health every day, in every aspect of our life, whether it is our work, our relationships-not just with others, but with ourselves too, how we treat our body and our mind, and most important but often overlooked domain, our relationship with our environment, our planet Earth. 

Mental health is a journey, not a destination!

-Dr. Suhasini Das

 

 

Comments

  1. Kandarpa KalitaOctober 10, 2024 at 4:34 PM

    "We often seek help from mental health professionals only after we have exhausted all other options" aptly said. Yes, this should be a focus in our everyday life. This may help all in leading a happy life indeed!!

    ReplyDelete

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