AMANAH '21

On 10th October 2021, we organized a webinar to celebrate our annual event – AMANAH on the occasion of WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY. 

The webinar, scheduled from 3 pm onwards was hosted by Nitashi Singh and Shreya Sugla. It was based on the topic “Mental Health in an unequal world”. The reputed and honourable speakers of the event were Ms Arouba Kabir, Ms Charvi Jain and Ms Sahana V Rajan. 

The event began with great excitement as Ms Arouba Kabir highlighted many things that we often neglect and procrastinate. She helped us believe that one can’t be happy all the time and it’s pretty normal to be sad and not be mentally well. Explaining the actual meaning of anxiety she described how some anxiousness is beneficial as it helps us get precautious. She focused on how mental health means different things for different people and how one should understand themselves first to know what their definitions of mental health and mental illness are. Lastly, she advised us to balance our family, social circle and career and not be afraid of trying new things.

Ms Charvi Jain focused on how imperative it is to move mental health to the forefront of conversations and to have transparent discussions about how we are feeling. She apprised that sometimes a mentally ill person is not able to communicate easily, so the listener should be patient with them. She emphasized the fact that mental health and physical health should be kept on the same level as they weigh equally in one’s life and are co-related. She even pinpointed how we can take care of our mental health. These included compartmentalization, which is a defence mechanism in which people mentally separate conflicting thoughts or emotions to avoid mental discomfort. 

Ms Sahana Rajan, believer in the role of philosophy in exercising one’s mental muscles, focused on prioritizing working on one’s self-identity and enhancing it every day. She also underlined the major role that parents play in their children’s lives, primarily in cognitive, socio-cultural and mental development. She explained how parents should learn how to respond when their children make mistakes as these reactions can shape a child’s social and emotional nature.

By the end of the event, we felt well acquainted with the actual meaning of mental health, and its importance in an individual’s life. We realized the need to prioritize our mental health in this world of hustle and chaos. The event left everyone with so many realizations to ponder upon that we felt inspired and awakened.