Desert Pioneers Toastmasters Club – Salmiya holds online panel discussion on mental health awareness
Mental health is not a destination; its a process. It’s about how you drive, not about where you are going. – Noam Shpancer Ph.D
Globally, the week from 18th May to 25th May is observed as the Mental Health Awareness Week.
Mental! Health! Awareness! What can I say!! This topic could not have been any more relevant than it is today!
While we are all struggling with keeping ourselves physically protected from the virus, we often fail to recognize that the mind is also going through this situation for the first time.
Our lifestyles have undergone monumental changes, and the way we used to live life just four months ago, is something that we can put in our past. We are moving towards a “new normal”, and this requires us to not only be physically prepared, but also to gear up ourselves mentally. And to do that we need to be mindful of our mental health.
At the end of this entire unfortunate virus siege, I guess there will be so many mentally distressed and disturbed people, that the most needed professionals will be psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors.
Well, one could actually look at this as an avenue to get certified during the lockdown, and capitalize on the advantage. Worth a try!
We are all battling an unseen enemy today. And this aspect - of the invisible miscreant - is what is making this pandemic not only physically taxing, but is also slowly but surely taking a toll on the mental faculties of many people.
The lockdown across the world, has literally locked us up in the confines of our houses and our immediate vicinity. This has drastically increased the amount of time that we spending with people who we have earlier not been spending so much time with. Even with family! Think about it!
Now think about the thousands of people who live in sharing accommodation. Imagine being locked up in an apartment, with 10-15 people who are not exactly your friends, but mere acquaintances, and often from different cultures, nationalities, age groups, and most importantly, different mental temperaments.
Add to that the fact that many people today are laid off, or are on a marginal pay, and are perplexed about how to continue putting food on the table.
Thousands of expats are living away from their families, and right now there is no clarity on when they will be able to reunite. The emotional pressures are insurmountable. And only the people who are experiencing this pressure will really know what it feels like.
This brings me back to the original point of the importance of maintaining one’s mental health. It is easier said than done. And I can very easily say to a traumatised person that he or she should not take tensions; that everything will be fine. But only the individual person knows exactly what he or she is going through.
Physical problems are easy to describe and to eventually tackle, because in most cases you can actually see the physical problem. For example, an accident wound, or a nasty skin allergy, or a bone fracture.
But mental health is something else. Not only is it hard for professionals to tackle, but it is quite a daunting task to diagnose, in the first place! Not to discredit other medical professionals, but mental health care professionals are artists in their own right! You cannot prescribe an ointment for a mental condition!
We at the DESERT PIONEERS TOASTMASTERS CLUB, have decided to ride this wave of the “Mental Health Awareness Week”, and have designed our next meeting based on this very theme.
In order to garner a proper and correct perspective, we have structured the meeting to be conducted in the form of an Open House, which will include a panel discussion, with an official moderator. The proper Toastmasters International Panel Discussion format.
To bring credibility to the discussion, we have invited three accomplished professionals from the field of Mental Health Care, to be our panelists, and they graciously have accepted the invite.
The DPTM Club gladly announces the professional panelists:
1) Anagha Madhusudan, Counseling Psychologist and Certified NLP Practicioner,
2) Kavita Sarvesh, Clinical Psychologist and Certified CBT Practicioner,
3) Ananya Saikia, Psychotherapist and Member of the ACBS - USA.
The meeting was supposed to be held online on the Zoom Meeting application, on 26th of May, from 7:00 pm onward.
For details on the meeting link, club membership inquiries, general information about Toastmasters International, etc., please do not hesitate to contact TM Amrit Pookkadan (President - DPTM), on +965 507 95669 (WhatsApp), or email on amritpookkadan@gmail.com.
We at DPTM are committed to staying abreast of every current situation, and in the process of shaping our members’ in leadership roles, we also keep in mind our social responsibilities and the larger picture.
May we all remain safe, and may we all come out of this mess as stronger and better people than we were earlier!