My Personal Journey & Universal Rights: Reflections on World Mental Health Day

October 10th marks World Mental Health Day, a day that was started by the World Federation for Mental Health to raise awareness of the mental health challenges so many of us face and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. I also see it as a day to reflect on our individual journeys toward better mental well-being. I’m grateful to live in a world where we have a society that is increasingly open to discussions around mental health. This openness equips individuals with the language and insights needed to advocate for themselves and their loved ones, thereby fostering understanding and diminishing stigma.

My Personal Voyage to Better Mental Health

Like many, my relationship with my mental health has been a journey of discovery and understanding. I grew up with immigrant parents primarily in survival mode, with little time or resources to understand the nuances of mental health and the impact it can have on individuals and in a community where mental health stigma was prevalent.

However, as an adult, I’ve been fortunate to engage with mental health experts who’ve enriched my understanding of my mind’s complexities, helped me manage my mental health issues through both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions and more generally arming me with ways on how to be proactive in maintaining a healthier mental space.

A Year of (Almost) Daily Meditation

As of October 7th, I have been meditating (almost) daily for an entire year. Encouraged by my cousin Rekha Narang, in October of 2022 I took a 4-day Vedic meditation course to help me learn how to meditate. This practice has been transformational in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I first began and fundamentally changed the way I show up in the world.

Through meditation, I’ve learned the art of grounding myself. It’s offered me the opportunity to have stillness and observe my thoughts without judgment, to connect with my emotions without drowning in them, and to cultivate a level of mindfulness that permeates every aspect of my life. While I am in no way perfect at any of these things, it has brought a higher frequency of those experiences and allowed me to see the world from a different perspective.

The Importance of Individual Approaches to Mental Health

As per the World Health Organization’s website, the theme for this year’s campaign for World Mental Health Day is “Mental health is a fundamental human right.” This assertion underscores that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in addressing mental health concerns and that a single intervention often doesn’t encompass the complexities of the mind. Our diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, values, and personalities all impact the way we think about and approach our mental health. Consequently, our strategies to enhance our mental well-being should be as varied and individualized as we are.

I am fortunate to collaborate with clients who are both curious and empathetic, and who aim to understand how an individual’s mental health influences their overall well-being, especially when they might be grappling with other chronic conditions.

At Environics Research, I am able to bring my personal learnings and professional expertise and apply them to ourPatient Connect Segmentation solution, in order to help clients understand distinct value variances among the individual segments and how these value differences manifest in the mental health space. We see within our segmentation each segment have different levels of stress, anxiety, or depression intense enough to alter their daily routines. Some patient segments clearly recognize the link between physical health and mental health, and there are notable and nuanced strategies adopted by individuals within those specific segments who have been more successful in managing stress, preventing it from negatively impacting their health.

In recognizing World Mental Health Day, let us remember that our mental well-being is a journey, not a destination and as we travel on this journey, let’s keep in mind the uniqueness of our individual paths, respecting and honouring our needs and values, and finding the tools and practices that resonate deeply with who we are.

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