World Mental Health Day was observed across Meghalaya today with this year’s theme being ‘Mental Health, a Universal Human Right’.
One of the official programmes was held at Sngap Syiem College in Mawkyrwat. The event was organised by the office of the District Mental Health Programme of South West Khasi Hills in collaboration with the District Legal Services Authority, Sngap Syiem College and Martin Luther Christian University. Local MLA Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar attended the programme as the chief guest. Also present was the Deputy Commissioner, T Lyngwa.
Addressing the gathering, Lyngdoh Tongkhar said that mental health is more important than physical health. He encouraged individuals dealing with mental health problems to seek support from their families, relatives and friends, emphasising that this support network can provide emotional relief and contribute to finding solutions to life’s challenges and mental health concerns.
He also emphasised the importance of preventing the stigmatisation of individuals facing mental health challenges and instead providing them with the necessary support and assistance.
The programme also featured ‘A Beautiful Mind’, a peer psycho education session presented by students from the Psychology Department at Martin Luther Christian University followed by an interactive session between the university’s students and those of Sngap Syiem College.
Private bodies also marked World Mental Health Day.
In Shillong, Avenues launched its Communities for Well-Being (CWB) initiative through a day of team building activities and conversations around well-being and mental health.
CWB is an initiative whose vision is to create a model framework of excellence for safe spaces that nurture authentic human conversations around mental health in communities, through stakeholder-driven well-being experiences for teams, youth, educators and parents.
Over the years, Meghalaya has seen a rise in cases of substance abuse, self-harm and suicide, an Avenues press release said. The CFW vision is to create a framework of community conversations driven by stakeholders around teams and culture, personal struggles, trauma and parenting.
The Halfway Home at Sabah Muswang which is run by the Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE), Jowai also celebrated the day.
Halfway Home is a place for the mentally challenged patients who have been treated at the mental institutions and are not supposed to be kept in the mental institutions but in a home-like environment where they will be provided counselling, vocational training and also to try locate their place of residence.
A drawing competition was organized for the inmates and many of them took active participation in the competition. Dr Ebormitre Dann who also serves the home as a visiting doctor presented the inmates with a television.
Meanwhile, Pahsyntiew Memorial Secondary School organised an awareness programme on mental health for students and teachers.
The resource persons from the office of the Mawryngkneng block mission coordinator, Christina Kharbuli, is a special educator for children with special needs (CWSN), Melinda Khriam and Kerlinda Kharumnuid, inclusive education members of CWSN.
Ridalin Laloo, a teacher and school counsellor shared her knowledge with a presentation about the importance of mental health. “Mental health is a priority towards everything. Prioritise it and make your life depend on it,” she said.
The importance of Mental Health should be discussed in every walk of a student’s life, she added. In today’s generation, mental health has a great impact on students’ lives and some of the problems that could surface if the subject is not addressed include dropping out of school, difficulty in learning, behavioural difficulties, poor performance to outright failing school.
