Mental Health and Wellbeing

Rangashri Kishore, Head Librarian at Krea University, Chittoor, who was caregiver to her brother for 35 years after he spiralled into depression and aggression when he did not get a seat in the University, talks about the family's caregiver challenges and the strength she acquired by helping others. You have been a caregiver to your brother for 35 years. Could you give us a little background about your brother? I will share it in the form of a excerpt of a poem that I wrote on his life: My…

In our next webinar in the #LivingBetter series, Swati Agrawal will talk about her experience of living with Fibromyalgia, an invisible illness. She will talk to us about how the chronic pain affects her emotional and psycho-social health, and the lifestyle choices she makes to manage her health. To know more about Swati, read her account here: It Took 2 Years To Get A Diagnosis  Join us on 25th September, 6PM IST, 8:30PM SG time on PatientsEngage page on Facebook. Just follow our page…

A full day conference organised by Schizophrenia Awareness Association in Pune covered a wide range of issues that impact caregivers of persons with mental illness and provided a platform for fellowship among caregivers and other stakeholders. The Schizophrenia Awareness Association-SAA, organized a full day, All India Conference of Caregivers of Persons with Mental Illness – CAME,in Pune on Tuesday, the 10th September 2019 in memory of its Canada based founder Dr. Jagannath Wani, a caregiver…

Youngsters can sometimes feel responsible for actions and events around them. Often it is a transient phase but sometimes it can be a cause for concern. Archita Bhalotia, mental health Counselor based in Mumbai, specialising in teens and adolescents with special needs, distils these for parents and why they should be addressed pro-actively.  What is shame? How is it different from guilt? Shame, when simply put, can be understood as one of the uncomfortable feelings of being flawed or…

It is important for caregivers to seek help and advice of mental health professionals to ease their journey of caregiving and keep the relationship strong, says Abhimanyu Argal who looks after his wife with Borderline Personality Disorder. Could you give us a little background about yourself? I am 30 years old. I'm self-employed, working in the real estate industry as a developer. I am an engineer by qualification. You are a caregiver to your wife, Sheeba. Please could you describe her…

Rohit*, 52 from Gurgaon has been living with Bipolar Disorder for close to three decades now, and has realised that a disciplined lifestyle and regular exercise goes a long way in managing the condition. What were the early symptoms and when? The first symptoms were in 1989, after a very stressful event. A particular incident in college triggered depression at a young age, which was later diagnosed as Type 2 Bipolar Disorder. Did you seek professional help immediately? I sought help after a few…

Life is not without its challenges. Sometimes the challenges can be overwhelming and your usual coping mechanisms may not be working too well. Tanuja Babre, a counseling psychologist currently serving as a programme Coordinator of iCALL, TISS explains the role of a counselor/ therapist and how you can decide on the right counsellor and the right form of counselling service.   Life events, whether positive or negative, can cause psychological distress. These experiences may…

Psychiatric counselling and therapy for people with bipolar disorder can help reduce severity and number of episodes of depression and mania and improve understanding and coping abilities, says Dr Milan Balakrishnan, psychiatrist at Bombay Hospital. Although medicines are the mainstay of bipolar disorder treatment, counselling and talk therapy also have an important role to play. How can a qualified therapist help someone in the treatment or control of bipolar disorder? Bipolar disorder, as we…

Can Yoga help people manage their chronc conditions? We picked out a wide range of conditions where patients have benefitted from practice of yoga.  It is fairly well known that people with certain conditions like Diabetes, Hypertension and Arthritis benefit from regular practice of yoga. You can also download our ebooks on the same from our E-Books Resources Page.  But the benefit of yoga goes beyond that to neurological conditions like Parkinson's and  Epilepsy, auto-immune…

Our ability to worry can help plan and prepare, but when we’re stuck in this state it can prevent us from taking any action at all. Stress can also turn into worry when we get bogged down into concerns that aren’t related to the present moment. We can go in circles on what we could have/ should have done yesterday, or what we could/ should do tomorrow.  A couple of quotes that can help us through these difficult times. Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow   The greatest…