New Delhi: In the bustling streets of our neighbourhoods, anxiety is not just a word, it’s a palpable presence. Anxiety has woven itself, slowly and smoothly, into the fabric of young Indian lives. However, that’s not the end of the story. It’s only the beginning, a bugle call. And our youngsters are taking note.
Also Read: World Mental Health Day 2023: The Status Of India – Giant Leaps Or Miles To Go? Experts Decode
I was a really anxious person, and I say it because I went through a terrible phase of it. I used to feel a lot of anxiety, said 23-years-old Agastya Nanda.
The Archies famed actor tagged today’s generation as ‘very anxious’ and said,
We’re so used to getting things in an instant. We’ve lost patience and we’ve lost faith.
Talking about how he coped up with the problem, Agastya said,
When I started acting, doing my first film, I was like, I don’t know what I am going to do, if people are going to like me. There were so many things going on. I did my best, and I decided to have faith in God. Whoever you believe in, whether it’s God, or energy. If you just pass on that burden, it relieves you.
Agastya Nanda started the conversation around mental health and young India recently as he spoke about mental wellbeing in the latest season of Navya Naveli Nanda’s podcast – What The Hell.
Watch: All About Government Programmes Addressing Mental Health
Mental Health – A Larger Issue
World Health Organization data states that in 2019, 301 million people were living with an anxiety disorder, including 58 million children and adolescents.
“The issue is that mental health problems in youth often get wrongly identified as adolescent issues and are neglected. The need of the hour is to have the conversation going,” Dr Nand Kumar, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS said.
A Guide On How To Cope Up With Anxiety?
1. Talk To Your Therapist: This intervention can help people learn new ways of thinking, coping or relating to their anxiety. Therapy can teach people how to face the situations, events, people or places that trigger their anxiety.
2. Manage Your Stress: Learning stress management skills, such as relaxation skills and mindfulness skills, can help reduce symptoms of anxiety disorders.
3. Medication Helps: Antidepressant medications can also be useful in treating adults with anxiety disorders. But, health-care providers should keep in mind the possible adverse effects.
4. Self-Care Is Of Utmost Importance: Self-care plays an important role in supporting treatment. To help manage your symptoms of anxiety and promote your overall well-being, one can:
• Avoid alcohol
• Exercise regularly
• Stick to regular eating and sleeping habits
• Learn relaxation techniques, such as slow breathing
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
