‘Therapy for mental illnesses is like emotional hygiene’

In connection with World Mental Health Day that was observed on October 10, the Pakistan Neuroscience Institute held a mental wellness festival, ‘Jashn e Nur - Celebrating the Light Within’ at the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) on Saturday,.

The festival was organised in collaboration with the British Asian Trust and Agha Khan University’s Brain and Mind Institute. Individuals from various walks of life came together to emphasise the different facets of mental health. The event shed light on positive aspects of society, acknowledging the roles and stories that have contributed to mental well-being and societal progress.

During panel discussion ‘Ask Me Anything’, documentary maker Zakir Thaver whose interests include biopics and science media emphasised that every conscious and understanding individual should consider seeking therapy as a form of emotional hygiene, much like how we groom our hair and maintain cleanliness of our hands and feet.

He stressed that the impact of parents' harsh language could affect a child's mental health as profoundly as physical violence affects the body.

Moderator of the session, Dr Ayesha Mian said depression was known to be a significant cause of various life-threatening illnesses. Similarly, stress caused by negative emotions can significantly impact heart health, she added.

The speakers urged everyone to foster positive thinking, seek beauty in the surroundings and play constructive roles in society.

Thaver asked those who were in depression or struggling with loneliness to “hang in there”. He asked the audience to watch English movie ‘Cast Away’ and recalled a famous dialogue from the movie: ‘When the sun comes up, you never know what the tide could bring.’

During a panel discussion titled ‘Design to Impact: Climate change, storytelling and mental health’, children’s author Nusser Sayeed spoke on the importance of storytelling to children.

“My last professional assignment from 2012 to 2016 was working with a majority of children in Pakistan,” she said, adding that what struck her the most during her teaching experience was that the children lacked joy in their lives.

She said that during the entire teaching process, she found that ‘happiness’ was one thing that was lacking the most. “No one was reading stories to those children,” she said.

Nusser then resigned with a purpose to bring joy in children’s life. She registered an organisation and constituted what she called an “amazing board”. She copied the idea of ride-hailing services, which used existing services (vehicles) for running their business. She then gathered people who would volunteer for educating and children and their job was to give one hour a week to go to children and read out books to them.

They then partnered with schools, orphanages, hospitals and connected the volunteers as per their convenience. “It started with a volunteer programme,” she said, adding that they also mapped partner schools to materialise the programme.