-Adya Shreya
Mental Health Awareness week is an annual event raised by the United Kingdom and followed globally in order to raise awareness about mental health and its associated problems. This year, it was celebrated from 10th to 16th May and followed the theme of ‘nature’. The theme aimed to encourage more people to connect with nature in new ways, and to notice the impact it has on mental health. It convinces decision-makers at all levels that access to and the quality of nature is mental health and social justice, as well as an environmental one.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world in the worst possible way and none of us could have ever thought we would be negotiating our lives for oxygen cylinders and ventilators. There has been an exponential rise in the number of infections and deaths. The economic recession has seen to negatively affect the mental health of the community. With survivors losing their dear ones, jobs and homes, it has become extremely difficult to maintain one’s state of sanity. There has been a surge in neurological repercussions of lockdown and social isolation, creating a room of anxiety, mental confusion, brain fog and depression. A group of scientists from Oxford University found out the incidence of 14 neurological and psychiatric disorders ranging from bleeding into the brain to psychosis occurred in more than one-third of over 200,000 persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the preceding months. Young adults have experienced a number of pandemic related consequences such as institutional shutdown and income loss, creating a mental imbalance. Not only that, the vaccines have steered a sense of bewilderment and terror in mankind. In this worst scenario, it has become extremely crucial to restore our mental abilities to decide on rationality.
May is considered as the mental health awareness month and we need to accelerate the force so that psychological well is reinstated. Nobody knew a virus would wreak such havoc, but we must acknowledge the population that has survived, breathed and endured. We should create a friendly environment, filled with kindness and recreational activities. The victim should seek help and the helpers must answer the calls. The mental well-being can also be enhanced by arranging book fair, group activities and making a friendly habitat for everyone - the true essence of nature!
Mask Up! Break the stigma! Spread the awareness! Stand by them if not for them!
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