ABOUT THE SERIES

Ms. Anita Mishra explained the working of different levels of the human brain. She discussed how a lack of sense of security can trigger most people to turn to their more basic emotions which can aggravate mental health issues and disorders. For this, she mentioned how consciously working on our emotions might help us develop our mind to be rational and sensitive while ensuring not to react impulsively. She also added how religious institutions and practises can play an important role in building confidence in the current situation while making sure that we conclude our webinar series on a positive note.

Dr. Gorav Gupta addressed the uncertainty and pressure faced by people during this pandemic, giving rise to feelings of anxiousness, insecurity and fear. He spoke about the possible redirection of resources towards building better mental health and health care services and a change in attitude of the government and society to make these a priority following the pandemic. He also talked about the role of mental health helpline services, professional psychologists/psychiatrists and religious networks in providing support at different levels. His explanation about the role of youth to end the stigma around mental health and work actively, was particularly inspiring.

Dr. Nachiket Mor stressed upon the need to integrate mental health with primary health care as done in countries like the U.K. Dr. Mor addressed the problems in the Indian primary healthcare system leading to an increased need for specialists. He discussed the possible interim strategies like outreach based community work, good referral to specialists and chatbots along with integrated primary health care to build a better mental health network. He also stressed upon the deteriorating mental health of workers due to the work pressure. Dr. Nachiket Mor's insights regarding suicide mortality rates in India and how intact family structure might help prevent the same, were really informative.

In a very enriching session, Mr. Varun Achreja shared with us the current state of the sports industry. Varun is Founder, World1 Sports, one of India’s leading sports consulting companies with a special focus on promoting Indian football. He’s also Founder, Eight Goals One Foundation (8one), which aims to promote the eight goals identified by them as critical in their mission for humanity. These goals include - Well Being, Gender Equality, Peace, Environment, Nutrition, Hygiene, Education and Employment. He shared two sides of the same coin. While on one side, we are witnessing the closure of stadiums and the postponement of leagues, on the other side, the isolation and boredom of sitting at home all day is motivating people to work out more. Sharing the plight of workers who’ve been rendered unemployed due to the shut down, his tips for sportsmen was to make the best use of this time and keep upscaling themselves and maintaining their fitness. To revive the viewership of events, he said a lot would depend on the ability to digitise the experience. Sharing the fact that consumption of sports has a positive impact on mental health, he also underlined the importance and the growing need for sports psychologists in the field.

Our last speaker Dr. Majumdar spoke about the role of social media during the pandemic and highlighted points that would help us examine the intersection of social media with Covid. According to historical experience, Covid will become a part of popular culture. Dr. Majumdar then went on to talk about the psychology of processing information since in today’s day and age where social media plays such a crucial role, we need to be conscious about how we consume information. Three important points made by her included the fact that what is popular on social media depends on how much it’s shared; what kind of information we end up consuming is important since it affects us beyond it’s face value; and how we turn to homophile and information bubbles while taking in information i.e., we look at information that is familiar to us and stick to it but one needs to intentionally break out of this bubble and look at alternate options.  However, while social media can enhance anxiety, it can also act as a channel to build resilience and mental strength if used in the right manner.

Harshleen, our third speaker elaborated on the relationship between popular culture and the pandemic. She spoke about how popular films like Zombie and 2012 and literature like The Plague (1947); a novel based on a small French town, address calamities. She said she won’t be surprised if a movie on Covid comes out soon.  Harshleen went on to talk about how forwards on WhatsApp groups as well as Google searches lead to anxiety in individuals and even affects their relationship with family members. Her analogies on comparing the media to a mall and content to snacking were particularly striking. 

Our second speaker Chrissy spoke about how children are affected by Covid. “Statistics show that over a billion children a year are abused and during Covid, the figures are thrice as high.” She spoke about the tremendous pressure, both financial and mental that children have to deal with during lockdown and advised parents to be patient with children; give them small, achievable tasks; talk to them about body safety; and find ways to make children's lives easier.

Our first speaker, Divyani Diddi spoke about the behavioural economics background. She defined media as any source of information on TV, newspapers and other sources; and attitudes and beliefs as emotions from an issue and behaviour which depend on how we process information. She then went on to speak about the two assumptions of behavioural economics; Human Irrationality and Imperfect Symmetry and drew a parallel between mental health and popular culture. The idea of what your body image should be is important to a large section of society. The 3 types of biases that affect this perception are the Affect Heuristic, Availability Bias and Confirmation Bias which were elucidated in detail by our speaker.

In an engaging and enlightening talk, Professor Aseem Shrivastava highlights how even amidst all the chaos and uncertainty, the slowed pace of life in the pandemic allows revaluation and reflection. As the situation forces us to think about not just our life but the meaning of our life, slowing down and getting back in touch with our roots can be a way of moving forward in a better manner.