On the occasion of World Mental Health Day on October 10, 2016, YourDOST in association with Youngisthan is launching a massive campaign for spreading the message of importance of mental health.
Youngisthan is a dynamic, informative and interactive platform for the youth to learn, share and express issues concerning the youth. YourDOST is India’s first and largest online platform for emotional well-being of people. They have joined hands together to reach 1 million people with a simple but strong message – Stay Healthy, Stay Motivated.
Stress is increasingly becoming a common part of daily life among Indians. It is very evident from several researches done by the Govt. of India and other organizations. According to recent reports, one in five Indians need mental health counseling as per govt. statistics. Additionally, four out of five people suffering from severe mental ailment in India choose not to treat it which causes early death by at least 15-20 years as compared to mentally healthy people.
As per ASSOCHAM’s corporate employees’ survey result, around 42.5% of sample population are suffering from depression or general anxiety. Out of 4400 students dropped out of NITs and IITs in last 3 years, the prime reason was academic stress, according to HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
Puneet Manuja, Co-Founder of YourDOST says, “The conventional Indian society tends to associate the term “mental illness” with madness and insanity. Also, communicating feelings of weakness and vulnerability is considered a sign of weakness. Hence, most people in most situations prefer to keep their problems to themselves because there is a fear of being misjudged and misunderstood. Also, reaching out to a counsellor for therapy is a matter of shame in many families because they annotate it as damage to their social status. All these conventions have led to a society where talking about mental illness is nothing less than a taboo.”
Amidst such difficult circumstances, people who are opening up about their mental wellness issues are a great inspiration to all. Hence, on World Mental Health Day, YourDOST is celebrating those people who have been through difficult times as well as mental ailments and come out stronger. Three of these BraveSpirits who are being felicitated on YourDOST’s platform on Oct 10th are, Farida who is fighting cancer for 20 years and is now a counselor, Ajinkya who faced depression when he went to USA for his Masters and he is now a lecturer in University of Pune and Tarun who underwent depression when he moved to India from Dubai and is now a corporate professional.
YourDOST is holding a LIVE Facebook Session where people can ask them questions about their struggles and how they overcome them. They will also answer queries related to stress, career choices, moving to a new country and others.
YourDOST is also launching a new book called “BraveSpirits” which contains real-life stories of these people which will inspire and motivate, on the same day. All these events will be held on YourDOST Facebook Page on October 10th, 8 PM. You can register for the same and drop in your question here.
