Like every year, Jaiprakash Hospitals, Rourkela, celebrated World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2023 at its Dhanwantri Seminar Hall. The program was organized and arranged by the JP Psychiatric Department in association with JP Digital Communication and the T&D Department. The objective of this event was to raise awareness among people regarding mental health issues. It focused on the topic of serious consideration of their mental health as important as their physical health.
This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day is “Mental health is a universal human right”. According to renowned psychologists today, mental health is a global phenomenon now and people should freely come forward and discuss their problems with a specialist for improvements in their lifestyle.
The program began with an introductory note by Dr. Debasish Patnaik Medical Superintendent of JP Hospital. He opined that people should not shy away from coming forward for the well-being of their mental health. Mental health issues do not imply that a person is mad. He also said that JP Hospital is committed to providing mental health counselling to all patients for their overall well-being.
Dr B K Kakkad JP Senior Consultant Medicine said that mental health is more important than physical health as there are instances where a patient has recovered quickly owing to their strong mental health condition.
Ms. Swapnarani Jena DNS was of the view that strong mental health is important for day-to-day life challenges also. It comes into play all the time when making any decision professional or personal.
This interactive session was taken forward by Dr. Rajani Verma, HOD & Sr. Consultant JP Psychiatry Deptt. Dr.Rajani said how in past years a person suffering from mental health was not considered fit to live in a society and was devoid of all his/her social rights. Gradually government took steps and the introduction of World Mental Health Day came into existence for better livelihood of such kinds of patients. She also gave a digital presentation covering topics such as mental disorders, dementia, suicidal tendencies, tips for coping with depression, how to be happier, tips to look after your mental health etc.
The interactive session was followed by an interesting quiz session conducted by Dr.Rajani Verma towards the end of the program related to topics such as types of mental illness, disorders, factors affecting mental health, affected age group etc. in which everyone participated enthusiastically and winners were given prizes.
Others present at this event were Ms Bonney M Arora DNS, Ms Suman Maharana, Ms Sashmita Pradhan, Ms Soumya Pradhan, Ms Bandita Patra (all JP ANS), Ms Tandra P Mishra HOD – CRBD, Mr Parmeshwar Bihari HOD Fire Deptt among others Hods & In charges of various departments. The entire event was hosted by Ms. Anju Choudhary Jaiswal of JP Digital Communication Department.
