Mental Health and Wellbeing

How To Help Children Deal With Pandemic Stress, Anxiety And Reduced Socialisation? A two part webinar series in English and Hindi with experts from MPower  The pandemic is affecting a lot of us emotionally. However the emotional wellbeing of children is often overlooked. Kids and teens have hardly played or interacted with their friends. They have spent months looking at screens for long periods of time. This is affecting their health in many different ways and creating conflicts and…

परमीत कौर सोनी मेंटल हेल्थ फाउंडेशन, कोलकाता  में कंसल्टेंट  क्लिनिकल साइकोलॉजिस्ट हैं। इस लेख में वे बताती हैं कि जब परिवार के किसी सदस्य या करीबी रिश्तेदार को कोविड का निदान मिले तो परिवार के अन्य सदस्य बच्चों को स्थिति से जूझने में सहायता  कैसे कर सकते हैं। हमें ऐसा कई बार देखते को मिलता है कि जब परिवार में किसी को कोविड हो तो सभी उम्र के बच्चों की चिंता अधिक बढ़ने लगती है, यहाँ तक कि उनमें असुरक्षित महसूस करने के कारण चिपकू होने की प्रवृत्ति भी बढ़ जाती है। हमने क्लिनिकल…

We are all struggling with various issues during this second wave of the pandemic. PatientsEngage has started a live webinar series every Tuesday (English) and every Thursday (Hindi) at 7pm IST with experienced counsellors who will help us understand what we are going through and share practical and actionable tips on what we can do about it. In the first of the series on 11th May 7pm IST, we spoke with experienced Psychologist Hvovi Bhagwagar on what we can to deal with the negative news…

Sangeetha Param, 26 a mental health advocate continues to deal with depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and has survived suicide attempts. She talks about her relapses and her inner struggles to stay afloat. She is also a motivational speaker.  **Trigger Warning - reference to self harm** Sangeetha Param had previously shared her journey from diagnosis to mental health advocate here  How did the latest relapse begin? Was it sudden or gradual? The relapse…

Jumana Rajkotwala, Counselling Psychologist addresses questions on the challenges faced by children especially in pandemic times and the steps parents can take to help children be healthy and feel connected in these times.  What according to you are the biggest challenges that children face today? Children, in recent times, have limited physical activity and increased online interests, this has taken a turn for the worse during the pandemic as kids have been stuck at home. One of the…

Depression and chronic conditions have a cyclical effect. Those with chronic illness are more susceptible to it and those with depression have a higher risk of other medical issues. It is important to prioritize physical self-care such as exercise, sleep and nutrition, exercise in order to break this cycle and push away the black cloud of depression.   1. Exercise as an anti-depressant 2.Sleep Routines For Mental Health 3. Importance of Good Nutrition     For more details read…

Samiksha Sivan, integrates her experience at PDMDS to talk about some of the negative emotions felt by caregivers of persons with Parkinsons and the how they can cope with the negative emotions like anger, resentment, guilt and anxiety. Dealing with a chronic, progressive condition like Parkinson’s disease (PD) can take a significant toll on a person, be it a caregiver or a patient. Being able to cope with everyday tasks at home and work as well as the stresses of caregiving for a Person with…

Sejal Jobanputra lost her father to suicide at a time when she herself was grappling with a number of health issues. Even after a decade, she finds it difficult to come to terms with the tragedy. What were your immediate thoughts when your father died by suicide? Immediate thoughts were random hopelessness. Why? Could I have prevented it? Was I a burden? That time I had 2 catheters around my neck for dialysis. I had just become deaf a few weeks ago, possibly due to amikacin medicine’s side…

About one in five of suicides are of senior citizens. It is a cause for enormous concern that warrants attention from healthcare providers, policy makers, communities and us as part of the larger society, writes Samiksha Sivan. In an effort to raise awareness about suicides and suicide prevention, and destigmatize it, we observe September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day, a concept organised by the International Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO…

विश्व आत्महत्या रोकथाम दिवस (वर्ल्ड सुसाइड प्रिवेंशन डे) के अवसर पर, पारस शर्मा, प्रोग्राम कोऑर्डिनेटर, आइकॉल साइकोसोशल हेल्पलाइन, टाटा इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ सोशल साइंसेज (TISS) आत्महत्या के बारे में कुछ आम गलतफहमियों को दूर करते हैं। 1.  जो लोग आत्महत्या के बारे में बात करते हैं, वे आमतौर पर आत्महत्या नहीं करते हैं, वे केवल ध्यान आकर्षित करना चाहते हैं। आत्महत्या मदद की एक ऐसी पुकार है जिसपर किसी ने ध्यान नहीं दिया है। यह सोचना गलत है कि जो लोग सचमुच अपने जीवन को समाप्त करना चाहते हैं वे स्पष्ट…