Addressing The Elephant in The Room

 

Annual physical health check-up of employees is such a familiar concept in corporate companies. Ever wondered why is mental health check-up not? Apparently, it is not considered as important.

Fun Fact or maybe not so Fun Fact: A recent WHO-led study estimates that depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy 1 trillion USD each year in lost productivity.

Well, if we talk about India, even then the stats aren’t any less grim: The World Health Organization estimates that India will suffer economic losses amounting to a staggering 1.03 trillion USD from mental health conditions between 2012 and 2030.

Loss of 1 trillion USD !!!

And this is when we are still dreaming of the country’s total GDP of 5 trillion USD.

So the question is, if the impact of mental health is so unassailable. Why does Mental Health not get the attention that it needs?

Here comes THE STIGMA.

Now that corporate culture in India is coming of age, people and companies are trying to be sensible and sensitive about employees’ physical health. But the talk about Mental Health is still highly stigmatic.

The below infographic by TLLLF 2018 NATIONAL SURVEY REPORT gives a glimpse of general attitude towards Mental health.

 Unlike physical ailments and disabilities, which employees rarely expend too much effort in concealing because they are generally received with sympathy and helpfulness from colleagues and supervisors, mental illnesses are hidden away for the justifiable fear of the reactions they elicit in the workplace. Persons with mental illness often have to struggle with a double problem. First, they have to cope with the symptoms of the disease itself. Second, the misunderstandings of society about the various mental disorders result in stigma. As a further complication, some people with mental illness may accept the common prejudices about mental illness, turn them against themselves, and lose self-confidence. The latter is referred to as ‘self-stigma’

I am writing here to address the general perception. If only everybody could just understand that people with mental illness are not retard, mad or lunatic. They just have an illness that can be cured through proper treatment and they need to be supported in their fight and sometimes it is just the symptoms of an illness and with proper care, the illness can be avoided altogether.

There are hundreds and thousands of mental abnormalities from the ‘perceived’ normal; So much so that having a mental disorder may be more normal and real. There is need to promote the discussion about these abnormalities or fears so that both the social stigma and self-stigma about Mental Health can be defeated.

On the same note, I will take the lead here:

“I have Agoraphobia. It is an anxiety disorder characterized by the symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can include open spaces, public transit, shopping centers, or simply being outside their home.

Talking about myself, I feel uncomfortable when I am sitting in an aircraft, far from the door and people start crowding the aisle after landing of the aircraft. I also feel uncomfortable while sitting in locations without an easy escape route, like the third row of an SUV.

It is in very early stage and I have consulted a doctor. I used to think it to be claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces) before meeting the doctor.”

So is the discussion about it, a solution? Probably not! But it surely is a solution for the stigma around it.

I am not saying that I am an expert on Mental Health. But the idea of writing this is; don’t be an expert if you are not one. Don’t Judge. Listen. Encourage the voice. Be empathetic. And yes seek an expert.

 

-Rajesh

(Not an expert on Mental Health)