Addressing Mental Health

“Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that the better for us all.”

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we feel, think and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, and relations with others and make choices. It is the state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential and can cope with the normal stresses of life, productively and fruitfully.

It is apparent that mental health is a pivotal component of health and yet its importance has too often been forgotten.

Stigma and discrimination are among the grimmest threats to mental health. Growing social and economic inequalities, protracted conflicts, violence, and public health emergencies affect whole populations, challenging progress toward improved well-being. Mental health is a key determinant of social and economic development, an integral part of general health and well-being, and that access to care is a basic human right. It aims to help all countries to accelerate longstanding efforts to implement equitable mental health policies, laws, programs, and services. We must deepen the value and commitment we give to mental health as individuals, communities, and governments and match that value with more commitment, engagement, and investment by all stakeholders, across all sectors. We must strengthen mental health care so that the full spectrum of mental health needs is met through a community-based network of accessible, affordable, and quality services and supports.

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During the unprecedented threat of COVID 19 we faced new challenges of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends, and colleagues, it is important that we look after our mental, as well as our physical, health. Children must be guided to buckle up themselves to adapt to the new normal.

Envisioning a world where mental health is valued, promoted, and protected, we at MPSpn, preen our efforts and adopt best practices to improve and enhance the mental health of our students

• One to one counseling of children: Children with special needs may have an anxiety disorder, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, hearing, visual, and other learning disabilities. The school counselor joined hands with special educators and identified such children and undertook rigorous counseling sessions to shun such disorders. The work is still on.
• In-House Celebrations and Morning Assembly: To promote team spirit and a sense of belongingness to school, we ensure equal participation of students from all four houses viz. Abhimanyu House, Dhruva House, Eklavya House, and Prahlad House in In-house activities weekly for their all-around development.
• With an intent to inculcate life skills, holistic health, and well-being, we organize special morning assemblies and celebrate all significant days viz Armed Forces Day, Youth Week, Mental Health Day, Parakram Diwas, NCC Day, etc in school.
• Listen to children’s concerns: As teachers, it is essential to listen to students’ concerns and demonstrate understanding as well as empathy. Our Educators offer students the opportunity to have a one-to-one conversation with them to reconnect and discuss any concerns.
• We run an empowered Boys and Girls’ guild to attend to their needs under the guidance of their charges.
• Keep a watchful eye on children’s performance: Teachers get in touch with the academic progress of a child before introducing a new topic. They try to connect the concept with live examples and share experiences.
• Engage children in constructive activities: Teachers Seek help from children and decorate the soft board of their class with colorful and welcoming messages. Praises and appreciation such as the Saturday Award, Star of the class, and best reader, can keep them going and fetch desired outcomes.
• Watch out for any warning signs of child behavior: that interfere with their ability to explore, play and learn: Teachers are attentive to changes in children’s behaviors. If any significant change is noticed or it persists over time, preventive measures are adopted without any further delay. Teachers provide lots of support if they feel a child is struggling.
• Model good coping behaviors for students – Educators need to be calm, honest, and caring and should demonstrate a positive attitude toward children so that they too learn to cope with the situation and learn to deal with stress.

Rekindling the efforts to protect and improve the mental health of our educators, rigorous practices were adopted:

• Personality Development Counselling Sessions for teachers: To encourage productivity and to bring fruitful results in the overall personality of the teachers counseling sessions were conducted. Teachers were mentored by special educators. A psychological test was given to teachers to assess and evaluate their work-life balance. They suggested constructive ideas to make a striking balance in personal and professional life.
• Meditation and Yoga Sessions for Teachers: To maintain mental equilibrium and to destress teachers’ special yoga and meditation sessions were conducted where teachers discussed different health-related issues and were given expert advice.
• Weekly Counseling sessions: Learning healthy coping techniques and problem-solving skills weekly Counseling sessions were conducted by our counselor on Wednesday and Saturday. Here they participated in various stress-release activities and tried to regain self-control and pleasure in life.
• Celebration of Special Days and Festivals: Lohri, Holi, Basant Panchami, Diwali all such festivals are an integral part of our culture. To rejuvenate their mind and body our educators celebrated these festivals with all zest and zeal as workout time.
• Guru Purnima and Teachers’ Day: Honouring the steadfastness of teachers in shaping the lives of pupils mpspn celebrated Guru Purnima and Teachers’Day at mpspn with incredible zeal and gusto. A wide range of fun-filled activities was organized which reminded the teachers of their school days and made them feel nostalgic.

Mental health risks and protective factors can be found in society at different scales. The vast care gap for common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety mean we must also find innovative ways to diversify and scale up care for these conditions. We need to clear our vision and attitude to address this issue. If addressed with a wide spectrum we would be to strengthen our mental equilibrium and empower each other.

Author – Reeta Bhargava, Principal, Maheshwari Public School, Jaipur

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