Workshop on mental health held at Alchemist Hospital

Panchkula, October 10: Alchemist Center of Happiness conducted an interactive workshop on mental health at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula today to mark World Mental Health Day.

Speaking on the occasion, Glory K. Singh, Psychologist and Director at Alchemist Center of Happiness shared that in the high stress times of today, mental health disorders are on the rise. She shared recent research and highlighted that Depression is now the number one cause of disability in the world. It is also one of the leading causes of suicide in India.

Times are  changing and people are slowly beginning to talk about mental illness openly, however unfortunately, it still remains a stigma for many, explained Glory.  She further added that lack of knowledge about depression also discourages family and friends to take action as symptoms are often confused with laziness or moodiness. This causes a delay in seeking professional help. According to the Mental Health Survey 15-16, the interval between onset of symptoms and seeking help ranges between 1-month to as long as 10-yrs. This delay can be critical in terms of the treatment, she remarked.

Glory further insisted that there is a dire need to end the stigma around depression and other mental health disorders. She urged participants to understand depression and accept it, and then treat it as we would accept any other physical illness.

Talking about roadblocks to treatment, Glory identified that one major roadblock towards tackling the depression epidemic is the lack of understanding and knowledge about depression. As common as the word is these days, most of us aren't sure what depression really is.

In order to aid understanding about depression, Glory discussed the symptoms and criteria of major and minor depression with participants.

She explained that if the following  symptoms are present almost everyday for a period of at least not 2 weeks then one should get professional psychological assessment and  begin  treatment.

The DSM-5 outlines the following criterion to make a diagnosis of depression. The individual must be experiencing five or more symptoms during the same 2-week period and at least one of the symptoms should be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day. 2). Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day. 3) Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. 4) A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).5.) Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
6.) Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day. 7.) Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.8.) Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

To receive a diagnosis of depression, these symptoms must cause the individual clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The symptoms must also not be a result of substance abuse or another medical condition.

If you or any of your friends or family are suffering, please do not suffer alone and please reach out to others and encourage them to seek professional help. We all need to take steps towards creating an environment where people are encouraged to talk about their mental health without any judgments, summed up Glory Singh.