SBS Hindi spoke with Nancy Loomba who is a project officer with Disability Employment Services about Mental Health awareness. Nancy and her team have run more than a dozen workshops on mental health awareness specifically for people of Indian origin. This was a first of its type of initiatives to help people of Indian origin. Nancy has also worked on projects relating to drug abuse, Autism and other disabilities.
The purpose of these workshops has been to create awareness that a mental health problem should not be considered a stigma. “It’s OK not to be feeling OK.” Nancy says, “Often people need not even go in for counselling or go to a Psychiatrist. All they might need is a peer group, to discuss their problems.” Never keep your mental issues bottled up. Nancy continues, "talk it over with a friend or parents or teacher or a guru."
Often migrants suffer mental health issues because of coming and settling in a new country, facing a cultural shock, financial hardships or linguistic barriers and moreover a sense of isolation. To top it all some communities consider mental health problems to be a curse, or that the sufferer is, “mad.” That’s simply not true.
Help is available through many organizations and Nancy Loomba is willing to help people who need some guidance and even link them to the right organization. She adds in Hindi, “सुख बांटने से वो बढ़ता है और दुःख बांटने से वो घटता है।" - (When you share your joy it multiplies and when you share your sorrows they diminish.)
Nancy can be contacted on 0406 966379.
Disclaimer: This article and audio piece are for your information, for mental health issues you must seek the advice of a professional.
