Exploring Brain & Mental Health : An exhibition from the Harvard School of Medicine (McLain Hospital) USA.

Exploring Brain & Mental Health : An exhibition from the Harvard School of Medicine (McLain Hospital) USA.

“Health is Wealth” is one phrase, which every one of us are familiar with. We call ourselves healthy if we are not affected by any disease or infirmity. Mental health - a manifestation of the mind and brain - most unfortunately has not received the same importance as that of the physical health. Fortunately the World Health Organization (WHO) has helped in making amends by defining health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. It goes on to add that “there is no health without mental health”.

Although both physical & mental health are collectively responsible for the holistic well being of human society, yet most tragically what we see in India is that a person with a physical disability is seen with empathy while one with mental disability is seen with apathy and most shockingly mocked at. One of the prime reason for this behaviour is lack of awareness on mental health issues. We can see physical disabilities, so it’s easy to understand, but because mental disabilities cannot be seen, we are quick to judge, even though the person going through them is no less human than another. If we unlearn and get over our conditioned biases, there would be no stigma about mental health. The magnitude, suffering and burden in terms of disability and costs for individuals, families and societies suffering from mental health, are staggering. Mental health has been hidden behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for too long. It is time to bring mental health issues out into the open and help de-stigmatise mental ailments from Indian society.

Fortunately, off late, mental health issues are slowly beginning to be discussed with increasing frequency in public and media. The Nehru Science Centre, which has a mandate in spreading awareness on scientific issues and also an objective of creating scientific temper in society, has joined hands with the Mclean Hospital (an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School) and Dr. N. S. Vahia Foundation, to organise this Harvard Medical School exhibition “Exploring Brain & Mental Health” to help in accentuating awareness on mental health issues. This exhibition was opened at the Nehru Science Centre on Monday the 11th of February, by Mr Pravin Pardesi, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, in the August presence of the legendary Australian Leg spinner, Shane Warne and other distinguished dignitaries that included Mr Ranjit Barthakur, Dr Vivang Vahia, Prof Mayank Vahia and several other leading doctors and mental health specialists both from Mumbai and Harvard.

Crazy that we Indians are for the game of Cricket and its practitioners the opening ceremony was completely dominated by Shane Warne who did not disappoint the media and sportingly held the Human Brain, which had come all the way from Harvard, in his gloved hands and went through the exhibition and listened to the triumphs and tribulations of dealing with mental health issues, from Experts. This exhibition spread over a week, will be supplemented with learning sessions conducted by McLean Hospital experts and Indian volunteers, series of lectures, panel discussion and a plethora of other events and activities in which passionate volunteers from several partnering NGOs will help visitors in understanding this all important issue of mental health. Topics relevant to people across all ages will also be discussed at a series of lectures by eminent speakers.

Mental health affects our own family, friends and neighbors, and sadly, those who suffer from mental health are often stuck dealing with it all alone and that too in the shadows. We earnestly feel that this exhibition and the series of events and activities will help in creating an incremental awareness and understanding of what the victims and the care givers of mental health are going through, because sadly there are far more people around us suffering from this scourge than what many of us suspect. What is more horrific is that in addition to the health and social costs, those suffering from mental illnesses are also victims of human rights violations, stigma and discrimination. Although there are people, institutions, trusts and NGOs working in this highly neglected area (www.adhar.org www.omcreationstrust.org and others) considering the tyranny of numbers that we are confronted with, we need many many more institutions and individuals in this field and most importantly these institutions need to be supported both physically and financially.

Fortunately effective treatments and interventions, that are also cost-effective, are now becoming increasingly available to combat mental ailments. It is therefore time to overcome barriers and work together in a joint effort to narrow the gap between what needs to be done and what is actually being done, between the burden of mental disorders and the resources being used to address this problem. Closing this gap will be an obligation not only for the Government but also for the medical practitioners, health workers, NGOs, civil society, corporates and business houses, foundations and research institutions. The ever increasing agrarian distress and the resulting farmer suicides and so also the suicides committed by our teenagers and adolescents in the modern pressure ridden Indian society, can vastly be reduced by creating awareness on mental health issues. I am sure our joint efforts with McLean Hospital and the NS Vahia Foundation in organising this exhibition and a plethora of week long events and activities, though a tiny step in this direction, will go a long way in leading towards a giant leap in the years and decades to come in addressing this issue.