Hey reader,

Thank you for dropping over here. Hope you are having a great time. As I always say, when I started this blog, I never knew I will ever be writing the 31st blog here. But, as it’s said, “If it’s meant to be, it will be!“

I feel so excited that one of the reader has come up and wishes to contribute in my journey to decode and understand life. Please welcome Soumya, who is an Engineer and preparing for MBA (wish you best of luck).

This blog is the creation of Soumya’s ideas and understandings about the power of community and it’s importance that she has felt with life. Let’s find out what she has got for us.. Soumya over to you :)

Hey Everyone…

The last blog was about depression and how important it is to understand and accept your feeling. Above all, it was also about accepting the feelings and emotions of our near and dear ones who might not be in the best of their mental health. This blog will touch another aspect of mental wellbeing i.e. the power of community.

Our existence is primarily 3 components- our body, mind and soul. While physical ailments appear on the body, mental ailments plague our mind. Just like our body has a healing power of its own, our mind too is capable of removing much of its own created mess. It’s just that sometimes this mess overflows and infiltrates our positive and sensible thinking manifesting itself in the form of anxiety, lack of motivation, stress, compulsive behaviour, irritation, aggression, depression and in more serious cases physical ailments.

While most of our thinking and behavioural conduct is in our hands, the environment we live in, the people we interact with, the places we visit, the company we hang out with, the content we read, our family dynamics much of all this has an impact on our road to recovery. Any ailment of the mind, that we have created on our own, can be resolved by making behavioural and lifestyle changes in a positive direction with a balanced approach. But this is for the ones who have to fight their own battles. What about those whose loved ones or friends are the ones fighting and working to make a better life for themselves? This blog is about them, rather for them.

We have often heard the following statements:

1. Women are mentally stronger.
2. Women are more prone to depression, anxiety and ailments of the mind.

Sounds contradictor? Well, if we pay a little attention, the above two statements make perfect sense. The generation of our parents and grandparents did not enjoy the kind of facilities we have but rarely faced chronic ailments and mental instability. Our mothers and grandmothers took care of huge families with dozens of kids, their parents, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunties, elderly but never did they face such problems. Handling a big institution like family means inviting more and more workload and stress. This constant multitasking and managing made women mentally stronger, thus justifying statement 1.

But now a days the scenario is changing with more than 50% depressed people in the country being women and young girls. If women are stronger then why do they fall victim to poor mental wellbeing? Well, the answer lies in the paragraph above- “Our mothers and grandmothers took care of huge families with dozens of kids, their parents, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunties, elderly ..”. With so many people around, it became way easier to distract themselves, share their feeling, express grief or fears, rest properly with care and affection and have a constant support. This is what is lacking today. Our stress levels are increasing but the size of our families is decreasing progressively. Our family, friends and co-workers are our support system. They absorb all our negative thinking and create a safe and peaceful space for us. This is the power of community.

But this is not about any gender rather it is about what all can be done from outside of us. So in short, community is capable of the following:

1. Act as a drainage system for negative thoughts.
2. Provide safe and peaceful environment.
3. Boost self confidence by providing positive affirmations.
4. Become unbiased and accepting towards the ones in the need of help.
5. Provide correct guidance.
6. Support personal growth.
7. Help ward off negative people, actions and feeling.

But you may ask “how can we do anything mentioned in the above list?”. Well it is quite simple. Just pay attention to the people around you, give them a place to share their feelings, assure them that you won’t judge them for their opinions or drawbacks, help improve their daily routine, interact frequently and positively, remind them that they are valuable and important to you, look after them and provide them with medical health as and when needed and many more.

Trust me, our actions and our free will, our ability to respond to any situation is no less than a superpower. With so many people around us who need our help and with so much that we can do, the kind of impact we can have on their lives by just giving them time is beyond comprehension. Having said all this, i want to leave you with a thought: “If our actions can have such a big impact on someone’s life and our little support can propel their recovery thus improving their mental health, shouldn’t we exercise this ability more?”

Navneet:
Hmm.. that’s very important point raised! I completely agree, that none of us ever feel down or depressed when we are with someone who know our problems and insecurities. What do you think?

Just like Soumya came up with this thought of contributing or sharing something that she has felt for understanding life and making it better and paying back to the society by sharing it, if you also have any idea that you wish to share, contribute just like Soumya did, or just have any topic that you want us to decode and share, please don’t hesitate. This door is always open!

Cheers!