On 5th April, 2023, HCI’s founder Umang Sheth hosted an interesting online session with Dr. Wilona Annunciation, a renowned psychiatrist who has helped many people come out of the stigma attached to mental health issues. Dr. Wilona Annunciation is the trainer and founder at Catalyst. She spoke on the topic – Mental Health and its effect on our career and money management was a subject that many participants were awaiting.
Dr. Wilona, in her session, spoke about how people with mental health illnesses feel very much vulnerable. They always fear being judged. When we see some problems related to physical health there is no question. But in the case of mental health, we tend to have a lot of issues. We always talk hush-hush related to mental health issues.
We need to actively fight against the stigma attached to mental health issues. The monetary fact also plays a part in this. Sometimes mental health professional is pricey. But they do give concessions during sessions if they ask for it. No matter how expensive the treatment, we must always ask for help.
Mental health issues have a physical and emotional component. There is some kind of cognitive component too as the mental focus goes down. We need to make sure the mental health practitioner takes care of these issues during sessions. With medication people have several symptoms like skin irritation and low Hb count. We need to take care of these as well.
People suffering from physical and mental abuse should definitely ask for help. People with bipolar disorder have difficulty expressing themselves. They tend to have poor judgment. This impulse control problem is the core issue of bipolar disorder. Persons with a mood disorder, ADHD, or severe anxiety disorder are extremely vulnerable. Financial management is another important aspect of mental health status. Whether we have mental health issues or not we must manage our money for having a good night’s sleep. We must take proper precautions to manage our financial side to keep us physically and emotionally healthy. The idea of compulsive buying is another problem for people. the correct way of dealing with this issue is to wait and give some thought and then go slow and steady.
A lot of LGBT people community people do a lot of compulsive buying to get a dopamine kick. To get rid of these we must practice pause and act. Regulating our emotions comes with practice. So, we need to do a lot of impulse control management. Slowly things will take their own course.
We have no control over things that have happened in the past. But we can always take control of things that are coming in the future. People have their own challenges so never compare yourself with another. This is a trap, so avoid it.
There are medicines to uplift the mood but there is no chance of uplifting the motivational aspect. Following a healthy routine helps a lot on the path to recovery. We must have a fixed time to go to bed and then only we would be able to get up at a particular time. We must start slow and we must try one step at a time. Not everything can be changed overnight but we must have patience. At times we also can feel low and seek help and there is nothing wrong with it.
Another issue with people is procrastination. The first thing to be checked is to set a realistic goal. We must never overstretch our ambitions. If we set some realistic timeline then it would be easy for people to achieve. We must find a suitable time for setting up these goals. If we check our schedule, we must be able to set up some realistic timeline for ourselves.
We must be able to take care of our physical health. A healthy mind can only be found in a healthy body. So, taking care of our health should also be our priority. Because of the Indian toxic work culture, we sometimes are carried away and thus we tend to keep this apart. Indian companies are not very much open to talking about mental health issues. People undergoing severe depression sometimes are not okay with disclosing this situation. But the willingness to share this fact with company people should be checked wisely. Since mental health issues are entirely personal and sensitive, we must be careful about talking about these issues with people.Finally, it is extremely important to bring into open a plethora of mental health issues and to solve them in a better way.
Overall, the session conducted by Dr. Wilona was an eye-opener for plenty of people tackling mental health issues in their personal life. We are hopeful that in the near future, Indians will be much more open about talking about their personal mental health issues in public without much fear of being judged.
Report by Aniket
Co-ordination by Amol
Edited by Mahrukh