“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom. Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.”
— Søren Kierkegaard
The era that we live in is constantly evolving. There is consistent progression and dynamism in every field of research and innovation. The exigency for fecundity that persists in today’s world compels students, employees and organizations to thrive in an intensively competitive environment and therefore the milieu of our time ensures that it keeps us on our toes.
The need to remain incessantly competitive, fosters feelings of immense stress, anxiety and builds pressure on the minds of the students and employees. This subsequently, hampers with their physical and mental health. Mental wellbeing forms an essential aspect of the self-actualization process, that individuals are exhorted to achieve. Therefore, mental and emotional wellbeing of an individual is serious cause of concern that requires attention and acknowledgement.
The advent of new technologies has been of significant advantage. Raising awareness has become simpler as we have steady access to information and technology to reach a wide audience. Despite the existence of said technology and awareness, there is intense apathy and unfamiliarity associated with the cause of mental wellbeing.
Paying any heed to it as a cause of concern, is a taboo. This is because of the stigma that surrounds the issue. This stigma exists due to a lack of awareness or a fear of acknowledgement, which may give rise to negligence, avoidance or concealment of the problem. There is an exigency for proper cognizance on the subject. Candid efforts are required to encourage people undergoing mental disorders, to be able to voice their malaise either with themselves, or with their family and friends, to be able to reach out for help and to understand that reaching out for help is not a mark of weakness, but of courage.
Saloni Rastogi