I AM MORE THAN MY MENTAL ILLNESS
We all have to juggle various roles: as parents, children, siblings, friends and colleagues. We may be an executive in a company, an amateur poet, an environmental activist or an avid footballer. At the same time we may be a sexual abuse survivor, a caregiver to an ailing parent and an only parent to a physically challenged child. And then, depression strikes.
We begin treatment. But the responsibilities do not go away. Your boss will still need that deadline to be met. Your child will still need your time to play. Your football team will still need their only goal keeper to win the match against the neighbouring society’s team. Your friend will still need that loan to tide over their difficult time. All this, while you learn to take care of yourself with the treatment, visits to the psychiatrist and counsellor.
Your past scars haunt you. On dark days you don’t feel like getting out of bed, but you push yourself. Because staying down is not an option. Deep inside you know, you are more than your nightmares. You are more than what people see. Your mental illness is only a part of you. Your scars do not define you. Your struggles do not hold you back. You are more than that.
This is the theme for our 6th anniversary: “I am more than my mental illness”. We are the Hugging Club of India, an initiative to remove stigma around mental illness. We offer a safe platform for all communities : straight, LGBTQIA+ and more to express their feelings and mental health challenges freely.
We are honoured and excited to host Ira Khan @khan.ira who will be addressing the Hugging Club family on our anniversary theme.
Ira Khan @khan.ira, founder of Agatsu Foundation and an ardent advocate for mental health, will be gracing the 6th anniversary event of the Hugging Club of India as the Chief Guest on October 02, 2023 at Amaha Mental Health Clinic, Bandra, Mumbai at 5 p.m. She is also the daughter of superstar and icon of the Hindi film industry, actor-producer, Aamir Khan. Ira has been quite open about battling cyclical depression and is a youth icon in her own right.
We are planning a fun, event-filled October with lots of creative events, pot luck, talent show (suggestions welcome!) and of course, something that is India’s first-of-its-kind event series, where mental health experts talk about their own mental health challenges and how they overcame them.
Highlights of our last 6 years:
-Stopped 40 people from dying of suicide.
-Helped over 1200 people to open up about their mental illness.
-Helped over 100 people to come out of various addictions.
-Organised and hosted over 500 mental wellness interactive sessions (online and offline) attended by over 9000 people across India.
-Created a 24 x7 support group for people with mental illness.
-Helped 18 people to restart working with emotional support and treatment.
-Reached out and spread awareness to lakhs through social media
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