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Depressions, Suicide and Anxiety; these words which were mostly discussed in clinical settings have now become part of the daily conversation among children. While issues and challenges around mental health have grown exponentially, our habit of brushing them under the carpet has also continued. But, unfortunately, the ‘out of sight out of mind’ policy doesn’t work when it comes to Mental Wellbeing. As per a recent study by WHO - mental health problems amount to 2443 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 10000 population; on similar lines, the age-adjusted suicide rate per 100000 population has also exploded to reach 21.1. These stats may look surprising at first glance, but a careful peek underneath reveals how mental health has become a gargantuan challenge for our society.
While we adults continue to brush the topic aside with ease, the younger generation which is one of the most fatal victims of this problem has taken it upon itself to address this challenge. Krishna Saproo – a Class 12 student from KC Public School, Jammu has launched MaunitvaNirakarn – A Mental Health Awareness Initiative, which helps youngsters suffering from mental health issues by giving them a safe space to express themselves.
MaunitvaNirakarn – A Mental Health Awareness Initiative
I don’t think people understand how stressful it is to explain what’s going on in your head when you don’t even understand it yourself.
Krishna Saproo, a teenager has started an initiative - MaunitvaNirakarn, that focuses on Mental Health well-being. MaunitvaNirakarn, which translates to ‘Inner Peace’ in Sanskrit, is a movement to help youngsters affected by mental disorders to find a safe space to express themselves and talk openly about it. The foundation focuses on people's mental health and raises awareness through awareness programmes.
Krishna shares that often students and people who talk about their mental health challenges and issues are either mocked or ignored. Through MaunitvaNirakarn, Krishna and his team are trying to build a safe ecosystem for such people and provide them an accommodating environment where free, open and forward-thinking conversations around Mental Health can take place.
Using Ancient Indian Practices To Cure Mental Health Issues
MaunitvaNirakarn is mainly concerned with mental health, climate change, and gender equality. It advocates the cause of sustainable development and is actively engaged in spreading awareness about mental health awareness. It aims to revive Ancient Indian practices to cure Mental Health problems and is working on an application that could provide mental health assistance to people at a subsidized rate. It had also started an initiative for those in need of COVID resources and was able to help a lot of people through this initiative.
Social Outreach with MaunitvaNirakarn
To address Mental Health concerns, Krishna has started a podcast with students of a reputed school from Jammu and Kashmir. The podcast is based on social awareness. Apart from this, he has started a project namedVartalaap along with slum area kids under which they teach them about Mental Health and spread awareness about personal hygiene. They help them to provide basic education. They have also organized a Webinar series with people all across India.
Achievements and Future Plans
Till now, MaunitvaNirakarn has conducted 60+ webinars on mental health awareness and plans to launch a new series of webinars from June 2022 onwards. These webinars have gotten great responses with over 2500+ youngsters benefiting from them. So far, the MaunitvaNirakarn initiative has reached 20+ Indian cities with plans to go global in the future.
Going forward, Krishna plans to help accommodate mental health as part of the formal school curriculum to evolve a better understanding of the topic among students. He also plans to launch an educational programme on mental health and personal hygiene in slum areas to train and guide children from poor and marginalized families.
Krishna Saproo is a finalist for Student Ambassador (Popular Choice) Because… at a time when youngsters were ignoring their mental health, he decided to inspire others to join hands and launch an initiative run by and for the youth to spread awareness about Mental Health and Well Being through awareness campaigns, workshops, and music. In the future, Krishna also plans to draft a proposal to make mental health a formal part of the school curriculum.
To Reach the Information Dossier Shared by Krishna Saproo Click Here.