Sharing experiences encouraged to heal mental illnesses

While a number of seminars are held to create mental health awareness, there still seems to be a dearth of events which could provide a platform to people to share their own experiences. 

In order to break that setting, Madeeha Channah, a Boston based mental health counsellor hosted an interactive session ‘Mapping the Mental Health Landscape in Karachi’, at The Second Floor this week, to bring people together to speak up about their mental health issues.

Along with mental health professionals, the session was also attended by individuals who were recovering or had recovered from some kind of mental illness.

Made to sit in groups of five to six people, the attendees were first asked to use post-its (sticky notes) for different activities.

The activities included talking about basic questions about how to deal with the issues at both the micro and macro levels; the participants were also asked to identify faults in the present rehabilitation mechanism.

With colourful papers placed in the centre of each table, members of groups were asked to discuss the questions among themselves and suggest means to improve mental health in the country.

Some people strongly felt that a trusted regulatory body was needed to keep a check on the quality of help being provided. While such bodies existed for other disciplines, a dedicated mental health association was advised to keep an eye out for practitioners who were still undergraduates.

“We need to understand that lives are at stake here! So practitioners need to ensure that they’re helping the patient and not hurting them,” said Madeeha.

Speaking about access to facilities, it was pointed out that a database was required to know the gravity of mental health issues. The counsellor added that poverty triggered such trauma, “There are many families who are at a high risk of suffering from mental health issues,” she added.

“Health is the basic right of every individual, but with poverty transferring from generation to generation, the trauma and stress of living in harsh conditions is transferred from one to another, making mental wellness impossible to attain.”

A participant also urged to spread awareness regarding the difference between a psychiatrist, psychologist and psychotherapist, because confusion could lead to dire consequences.

Some of the attendees also stressed on the need to work with children as well as family units to do away with the stigma attached to mental health issues. “We need to form trauma sensitive centres everywhere to help people recover.”

With the recent launch of an online portal allowing a person to share their problem anonymously, the need for more such initiatives was also discussed.