Books and Mental Health placard featuring a book cover Your Worry Makes Sense by Dr Martin Brunet. Image also says Brought to you by The Health Collective

Your Worry Makes Sense: Empathy in Book Form

By Asma G My first introduction to Dr Martin Brunet’s work was through a reel he posted on burnout. The reel was quite popular, amassing 4 million views since 2023.  The UK-based NHS General Practitioner (GP) and GP trainer goes by the handle…

Placard saying World Mental Health Day and Books and Mental Health with the cover of the book Glimmers by Cailin Hargreaves

How to Notice the Good: Cailin Hargreaves on Glimmers, and Sharing the Light

By Amrita Tripathi Ahead of World Mental Health Day, I had a chance to chat with poet and author Cailin Hargreaves, whose book Glimmers: Your Daily Journal for Positive Reflection is such a beautiful testament to her own journey and…

A placard with the health collective logo saying Books and Mental Health, featuring a book cover of the book Bandaged Moments

Bandaged Moments: A New Book

Bandaged Moments is a collection of short stories of (and around) Mental Health by women writers across India. Edited by academics Nabanita Sengupta and Nishi Pulugurtha, this book features 26 stories translated into English from 17 languages. It is a…

Understanding Parasocial Relationships and Their Role in Your Life

Have you ever felt like a celebrity or influencer really gets you, when in reality you have never even met them?  Welcome to the club! By Bhavya Jain A parasocial relationship is a one-way emotional bond in which an individual feels…

World Mental Health Day 2025 Event Join Us with Health Collective logo

World Mental Health Day: Events You Can Join

Do check out some of our high-calibre events and connect further to join. October 9 ahead of World Mental Health Day We have two panels being organised on:AI & Mental Health as well as Mental Health and the Workplace We…

Mansik Swasthya Hindi

Hindi Blog: Why Should We Care About Mental Health

पिछले कुछ समय से हर व्यक्ति ने खुद के लिए और अपने परिवार के लिए एक सोची हुई कामयाबी को पैमाना बना लिया है, और उससे कम मिलनेया हासिल होने को वह नाकामयाबी मानता है, और इस वजह से दुखी होता है फिर अवसाद का शिकार होता है और धीरे-धीरे उसकी यह मानसिकसमस्या एक विकराल रूप ले लेती है। अगर हम गौर करें, तो हर व्यक्ति वर्तमान समय में एक अजीब सी चूहा दौड़ में हर लगातार भागा ही जा रहा है, और उसको अपने आसपास इस तरहकी प्रतिस्पर्धा का लगातार सामना करना पड़ रहा है, जहां लोग मानव से मशीन बनते जा रहे हैं, इस वजह से भी कहीं ना कहीं हमारे मानसिक स्वास्थ्यपर इस चूहा दौड़ का नकारात्मक प्रभाव पड़ा है। हालांकि ऐसा हरगिज़ नहीं है, कि मानसिक विकार हमारे देश में नया है, मानसिक समस्याओं से लोग लगातार जूझ रहे हैं, लेकिन अब यह समस्यालगातार बढ़ती ही जा रही है, जिस पर समय रहते जागरूकता अभियान चलाया जाना ज़रूरी है। भारत में लगभग 10.6% वयस्क मानसिक विकारों से पीड़ित हैं,  राष्ट्रीय मानसिक स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण (NMHS) 2015-16 के अनुसार, 13.7% आबादी में जीवन भर किसी न किसी मानसिक बीमारी का प्रसार होता है, शहरी क्षेत्रों में मानसिक विकारों का प्रसार ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों की तुलना में अधिकहै। इसी तरह एक सर्वे के अनुसार भारत में 72% से 90% तक मानसिक विकारों से ग्रस्त लोगों का ईलाज ही नहीं हो पाता है, क्योंकि इस विषय परजागरूकता की बेहद कमी है, वैसे देखा जाए तो हमारे बीच में सभी तरह कि शारीरिक बीमारियों के प्रति भी जागरूकता की बेहद कमी है, जहां पर हमकिसी भी बीमारी के शुरुआती लक्षणों को समझ ही नहीं पाते हैं, और जब तक बीमारी विकराल धारण नहीं कर लेती है, तब तक हम डॉक्टर्स के पासनहीं जाते हैं। ईलाज का डर, भावनात्मक व्यवहार, सामाजिक दबाव या खुद के प्रति लापरवाही हमें बीमारी का ईलाज करवाने में बाधा बनती हैं। फिर भी ऐसा देखने में आता है, कि दूसरी शारीरिक बीमारियों के प्रति हम यह हमारे आसपास मौजूद लोग थोड़े बहुत जागरूक है, क्योंकि शरीर केकिसी भी हिस्से में कोई कमी आने पर या शारीरिक परेशानी उत्पन्न होने पर हम शारीरिक जांच करवा लेते है, इसी बीच में शारीरिक जांच रिपोर्ट केआने से पहले हम उस शारीरिक बीमारी के संबंध में जो चिकित्सा विभाग के द्वारा मापदंड तय किए गए हैं, उनका अध्ययन कर लेते है, कि एक स्वस्थव्यक्ति की शारीरिक जांच रिपोर्ट कैसी होती है, और अस्वस्थ व्यक्ति की रिपोर्ट में क्या-क्या कमियां या अधिकता पाई जाती है। लेकिन जिस तरह से भारत में अंग्रेज़ी शब्दों का इस्तेमाल किया जाता है, जैसे एंज़ायटी या डिप्रेशन तो लोग इन शब्दों से घबराते हैं, इसकी जगह अगरउन्हें क्या आप दुखी हैं? क्या आप बेचैन हैं? क्या आप परेशान हैं? इस तरह के शब्दों का इस्तेमाल किया जाए, तो वह शायद ज़्यादा बेहतर तरीके से बात को समझ सकते हैं, और अपनी मानसिक स्वास्थ्य की तरफध्यान दे सकते हैं, जागरूक हो सकते हैं, इसके लिए परिवार के सदस्यों को भी अपने परिवार में जो लोग हैं, उनके व्यवहार को समझना और उनमें अगरकुछ परिवर्तन आ रहे हैं, तो उन पर ध्यान देना ज़रूरी है, ऐसा करने से किसी भी व्यक्ति के नकारात्मक मानसिक स्वास्थ्य को जल्दी समझा जा सकताहै, फिर शुरुआती अवस्था में ही उसका इलाज बड़ी ही आसानी से किया जा सकता है।  धन्यवाद… एक संक्षिप्त लेकिन सारगर्भित विचार अगर हम अपने निजी, सामुदायिक, प्रैक्टिकल, पेशेवर और सामाजिक जीवन में ज़बानी जंग लड़ना बंद कर दें, तब हम अपने जीवन की अधिकतर जंगबिना लड़े ही जीत जाएंगे, और मानसिक शांति के अव्वल दर्जे पर पहुंच जाएंगे। Imran Uz Khan is a Bhopal-based Hindi content writer and Hindi content validator.   Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the site.…

Placard with book cover of The Crucial Years and text that says Books and Mental Health brought to you by The health Collective

Book Review: The Crucial Years

The premise of Dr. Ziegler’s book is that middle childhood (i.e. ages 6-12) is a crucial time in children’s lives that often goes unnoticed because parents tend to focus on the pre-school and high school years without realising that middle childhood is a formative period for children. 

Image with text that says Suicide Prevention in South Asia. Illustrations include two youth sitting together, a suicide prevention logo and hands together in solidarity.

Join a Webinar: Suicide Prevention in South Asia

Collectively, the South Asia region accounts for more than 200,000 of the estimated 700,000 global suicide deaths. India contributes 177,567 deaths, followed by Pakistan with 13,506 suicides. Sri Lanka has the highest suicide rates (14/100,000), followed by India (12.6/100,000) and…

Suicide Prevention Day 2025 with book cover

Suicide Prevention: What You Need to Know

There are many myths and misconceptions about suicide and suicide prevention. For starters, please know that it is a complex multi-factorial issue, and that death by suicide cannot be simplified into one simple cause (which is usually how we see…

Mansik Swasthya Hindi

Your Stories: Mental Health Myths and Facts (Hindi)

By Ishika Bansal Mansik Swasthya: Mera Anubhav, Kuch Galatfahmiyon ke Paar Mansik swasthya. Sunne mein hi kitna bhari shabd lagta hai. Bachpan se jab bhi yeh shabd sunti thi, lagta tha yeh toh bahut hi kam logo ko hota hoga. Aur…