A Brief Report

on

Pursuit of Wellness:

A 3-Day Workshop
on
Mental and Emotional Health for Youth

January 6-8, 2021

Organized By

Department of Mass Communication & Journalism

Tezpur University, Assam

In Collaboration With

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Institution of National Importance by the Act of Parliament No.35/12
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,
Government of India, Sriperumbudur – 602 105.

&

LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam

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 Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements

Background of the Program

Objectives of the Program

Learning outcomes of the Program

Target Group for the Program

Inaugural Function of the Program

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Topics Covered By the Resource Persons

Day 1

1. Youth engagement for sustainable development and wellbeing: Some

imperatives for aneffective policy.

Dr Nanda Kishore Kannuri, Additional Professor, Indian Institute of

Public Health, Hyderabad

2. Keynote address-2: Promoting mental health of Youth: Crossroads and

roadmaps

Dr Jai Ranjan Ram, Senior Psychiatrist & Jt. Director, Mental Health
Foundation, Kolkata

3. Mental Health Challenges among Youth: Picking up early signs of distress

Dr Angshuman Kalita Asst. Professor of Psychiatry, LGB Regional Institute

of MentalHealth, Tezpur

4. Does mind matter for youth?’- Youth Mental Health and wellbeing
during COVID andbeyond

Dr Diptarup Chowdhury, Asst. Professor of Clinical Psychology &

Coordinator, YouthWellness HUB, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health
Tama Dey, Clinical Psychologist, Youth Wellness HUB, LGB Regional
Institute of MentalHealth

Day 2

1. Inviting wellbeing in new modes of learning: Managing challenges &

discoveringopportunities to grow as an online learner

Dr. Anindita Bhattacharya, Faculty, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

2. Relationship and intimacy in virtual and real spaces

Dr Shobhana H, Associate Professor of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB

Regional Institute ofMental Health
Dr Suvarna Joshi, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Mumbai

3. Creating safe spaces for ALL: Youth belonging to gender-minority

and othermarginalized groups

Raviraj Shetty, Senior trainer & Occupational therapist, Ummeed Child

Development Centre, Mumbai

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 4. Building resilience through peer and community support

Jehanzeb Baldiwala, Head, Mental Health Division, Ummeed Child

Development Centre

Day 3

1. Turning stress upside down: A strength focused approach to stress

management

Dr Rajeev J Michael, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Kochi

2. Mindful Photography

Nitin Das, Film-maker and Environmentalist, Delhi NCR

3. Multiple Ways to Wellness: ‘The Youth Wellness HUB project’

Dr Diptarup Chowdhury, Asst. Professor of Clinical Psychology &

Coordinator, YouthWellness HUB, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health
Tama Dey, Clinical Psychologist, Youth Wellness HUB, LGB Regional
Institute of MentalHealth

Valedictory Session

Feedback from the Participants

Conclusion and Recommendations

ANNEXURE 1 – PROGRAM SCHEDULE

ANNEXURE II: PROFILES OF THE RESOURCE PERSONS

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 Preface and Acknowledgements

Pursuit of Wellness was organized by the Department of Mass Communication and

Journalism, Tezpur University as a 3-day workshop to promote the concept of mental
and emotional wellbeing and wellness of young people. Youth are the biggest asset of
a nation. In their well-being lies the well-being of the country. It is only by
empowering youth that the society can be empowered.

Pursuit of Wellness was an attempt to create a platform for young people to connect
to each other and facilitate discussions that educate, empower and instil hope, while
at the same time fostering strategies for building resilience.

We duly acknowledge the support and guidance of RGNIYD in making this

programme possible. We also acknowledge the collaboration with the LGB
Regional Institute of Mental Health Tezpurand the Youth Wellness Hub team which
was the backbone of the programme.

Background of the Program

The COVID 19 pandemic has affected the entire world in the most unprecedented
manner. As the world waits for this pandemic to end, fears are being raised that we
may never be able to live life the ‘normal’ way, and eventually have to settle in for a
‘new normal’. However, even as we are trying to come to terms with this crisis, a
bigger fear looms large and it is being predicted that the next big pandemic is not far
away. And that next big inevitable pandemic is nothing but Mental Illness.

As per WHO data, India is already home to a large population (estimated 57 million
people) who are affected by depression. And unfortunately, the proportion of youth
within this chunk of patients is increasing by the day. Mental health disorders such as
depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse disorders among the youth are
steadily on the rise. The stress of performance in studies, as well as work, is taking a
toll on the mental health of youth. The rise of social media usage has isolating them
ever more from heart-to-heart relationships with family and friends.

With the COVID 19 pandemic the situation has further worsened. Social distancing
has further added to the already existing feeling of isolation and alienation. The
insecurity around the educational and employment scenario is escalating the
pressures on the already stressed and anxious young mind and giving way to
hopelessness. The mounting number of suicides is a testimony to this and a cause of
growing concern.

Young people are not well equipped to handle the growing challenges to their mental
health, particularly in the new COVID 19 ravaged world. And stigmas surrounding
mental health only create an additional barrier in reaching out for help. Therefore, it
is essential that the youth population become aware and empowered to deal with
these growing challenges for maintaining a positive mental health by increasing
discussions around mental health and battling the stigmas.

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 Objectives of the Program

1. To facilitate dialogues and discussions around youth mental health issues

relevant to northeastern region

2. To build awareness about youth mental health problems and facilitate

destigmatizationthrough discussions

3. To highlight stories of strength among youth and foster hope and resilience

4. To foster newer, culturally-sensitive, locally-relevant youth-engagement

initiatives related to mental health promotion

Learning outcomes of the Program

The workshop has been successful in increasing the awareness and sensitivity of the
youth participants regarding mental health problems of young people, given them
greater ability to identify early signs of distress and made them more open to the idea
of seeking help. It has also enabled them to create network other young people and
mental health professionals should they need help or wish to provide mental health
support to their peers. Overall it led to the enhancement of understanding about the
importance of maintaining self and community wellbeing.

Target Group for the Program

The target group included students at the higher secondary, graduation, post-
graduation and PhD levels from different places of Assam. Over 100 students
registered for the programme. Finally a total number of 35 young people participated
in the programme, of which 20 were female and 15 were male.

Inaugural Function of the Program

The inaugural function of the programme was organized on 6 January 2021. The
session was attended by Prof. Sibnath Deb, Director, RGNIYD, Prof. S.K. Deuri,
Director, LGBRIMH, Prof. [Link], Dean School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Tezpur University, Prof. Sonia P. Deuri, Head, Department of Psychiatric Social
Work, LGBRIMH and other dignitaries.

While appreciating the initiative undertaken by the Department of MCJ, Tezpur

University, the speakers underscored the importance of creating awareness and
sensitization around mental health issues promoting wellness and happiness for
individual, social and community well-being. They also emphasized upon the role of
young people in this regard and how educational institutions can play a part in
creating an enabling environment for the same.

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The keynote addresses were delivered by Dr. Nanda Kishore Kannuri, Additional
Professor, Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad. Dr. Kannuri in his address
highlighted upon the SDGs and deliberated on the intersectionality between mental
health, SDGs and the social determinants of health.

Chief Guest’s Address - Prof. Sibnath Deb, Director, Director Rajiv Gandhi
National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu

Prof Sibanth Deb spoke about how physical, social, mental, spiritual health are all-
inclusive for a productive and meaningful life. He spoke about students' mental
health issues, and there is a gap in understanding the importance of the mental well-
being of wards by their parents. He mentioned how mental health has been
emphasised under the National Education Policy, 2020. The questions imperative to
mental health are: How to address and identify this issue among higher education
students? There is a lack of a mechanism to identify them in higher education
institutes. Thus teachers at all levels should be sensitized on how to identify and
address early signs of mentaldistress amongst students.

The speaker talks about overall health which includes physical as well as mental
health. Although other countries have recognized the importance of an individual's
mental health, it is yet to be addressed in our country. Mental health has its presence
in our discussion but lacks implementation at the ground level. An essential step in
addressing mental health issues is the identification of challenges faced and
addressing those challenges. This step has its importance at all levels starting from
school to higher education institutions. By giving an example of a student who
shows disinterest in or is demotivated to attend classes, the speaker talks about
tackling this problem. An institution can play its part to keep students motivated is by
providing a good psychological ambience by following a timetable, teachers being
punctual, clearly laid out rules and regulations. Teachers can contribute by being
updated in their knowledge about their expertise.

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Apart from institutional factors family environment also play a significant role in the
overall well- being of an individual. In our country, this area is not well researched
and requires attention. In abroad, the institutions reach out to parents if the students
face issues in their academic life to understand the root cause of their problem and
find ways to deal with it. In our country, family issues go unnoticed.
Institutes can help students in better ways by facilitating the right kind of support.
The speaker emphasized the need to have professional psychologists capable of
dealing with student's issues and providing them guidance. Another way is by having
a good redressal mechanism for students. Every individual's resilience capacity is
different, but it can be enhanced by orientation in turn enhancing emotional
competence.

Life should be a meaningful and enjoyable experience. Overall well-being is essential

to lead a productive and fulfilling life.

Address by Prof Sonia Parida Deori, Head of Department, Psychiatric Social Work,
LGBRIMH, Tezpur

Prof Sonia Parida Deori talked about the power of choice, a self-directed initiative. It
is empowering youth to make choice of being emotionally well. Wellness is more
about actively seeking to create a nourishing environment for oneself as well as for
others. It is not about merely surviving or existing but to thrive well. Wellness is the
sum of emotional, physical, social and spiritual wellness. The concept of mental
health has been present at all times, but the current situation pushed it to the
forefront. This conversation space and choice are essential to make mental health
available to all. She lauded the initiative and the theme of the workshop, which aims
at sensitizing the youth. The youths are the future, and the focus should be upon them
to change the future.

Address by Prof SK Deuri, Director, Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional

Institute of Mental Health

Prof SK Deuri gave a fresh perspective to the idea of wellness. He tries to see it in the
paradigm of illness, wellness, and happiness. Does the absence of illness mean
wellness? Does wellness lead to happiness? By these questions, he tries to establish
that these do not have a linear relationship. Sharing his experience of his internship
days, he recalls some people who were so energetic that they did not require
anaesthesia to get their sewn, and then there were people in pain and anxiety. These
variations in behaviour make it challenging to know what is going inside the body.
Seniors suggested not philosophizing and carrying on doing the duty assigned, and
this propelled him towards the idea that there is more to life, and he went on to
explore the mental health dimension. Wellness is not one thing but collectively
involves spiritual, emotional, sociological, and intellectual wellness. Happiness is not
a state devoid of illness.

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Giving an example of Covid-19, the speaker says that if all human beings are the
same and the same coronavirus is attacking everybody, then all human beings should
be affected in the same way. However, the case is different only about 10% of people
get severely ill, while others do not even know that it has affected them. This is
because each individual mechanism is different from others.
According to him, happiness is difficult to define even when it is the most desired
state of mind. What makes people happy is it culture? Is it tradition or language?
Alternatively, is it the influence of other people and culture? These questions remain
unanswered.

He concluded his address by saying wellness is an amalgamation of all the things we

seek out to make life meaningful and these proportions vary for each and every
individual for their own well being.

Keynote address-1:

Youth engagement for sustainable development and wellbeing: Some

imperatives for an effective policy.

Dr Nanda Kishore Kannuri, Additional Professor, Indian Institute of Public Health,

Hyderabad

Sustainability is acting consciously on a daily basis with future generations in mind.

It is based on three pillars – economic activity, environment stability, and social
change, all three being closely interconnected. The speaker talked about sustainable
development goals adopted by 193 member countries of UN with a commitment to
achieve the mentioned goals. These goals are in line with ensuring a good life for the
future generation.

The speaker then talked about youth and its meaning. Although various definitions
are available, the UN defines youth as persons between 15-24 ages. Period of
transition from childhood to adulthood where individuals gain awareness and
independence. The other definition defines youth as when an individual stops
compulsory education and gets his first job. Recalling an incident from his life
speaker talked about a farmer who committed suicide, and his 10-year-old son was
forced to stand up to the occasion and become the sole bread earner of the family.
Thus these definitions can vary, and role of culture and reality shape the way we look
at youth. India has the largest population of youth globally with many potentials for
the next five decades. Thus, they should be empowered to contribute to the nation’s
growth.

The speaker then talks about the relationship between youth and sustainable goals. As
sustainable goals have a timeline of 10-15 years, the youth will experience SDGs'
success or failure. About one- third of goals are youth-specific like poverty, hunger,
education, gender equality, decent work, and climate change. Youth have the
responsibility towards achieving these goals.

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Talking about wellness speakers said it is still is an illusional concept. It is the
culturally constructed social ecosystem around us and is dynamic. Speaker took an
example of his research on farmers' suicide to talk about a large part of the Indian
population. Around 60% population is engaged in agriculture and related fields for
their livelihood. However, we all live in debt, but what triggers farmers in debt to
commit suicide. The lack of social and cultural space to share their experience of
humiliation, poverty, and social sufferings leads to psychiatric morbidity.
Politicians refused to accept that their policies may be flawed and blame farmers for
having suicidal tendencies. However, if such a large part of the community is in
distress, we need to find a way.

Speaker gave another example of cotton seed girls. Large MNCs employed girls of
10-18 years of age to do manual pollination, which is more profitable. They chose
girls as they hand soft fingertips and small height ideal for performing pollination.
While talking to them about various issues mandated by WHO, the speaker got to
know their reality where they were at the mercy of their employers and faced
physical and sexual abuse. This forced speakers to change the way to measure
wellness, as defined earlier. When the girls were asked about wellbeing, they told
about their goal to save money for a dowry to get married and have kids. Health was
nowhere in their priority list of wellbeing. So this showed the ambiguities ad issues
around youth and wellness and how important it is to include local culture and reality
while measuring wellness.

One crucial dimension talked about was link between SDGs and mental health.
Because of SDGs, mental health got involved in mainstream and is no longer limited
to hospitals. It is now part of development issues in the form of a health system
strengthening universal health coverage. Article SDG 3 is ensuring healthy lives
and promotes wellbeing for all ages. Article 3.4 talks about promoting mental
health ad wellbeing. Article 3.5 talks about the prevention and treatment ofsubstance
abuse.

India's rank in various indexes shows that although we have made progress, there is
still a long way to go. Apart from individual attributes to mental health, socio-
economic circumstances, environmental factors also shape our mental health and
wellbeing. The speaker talked about various challenges faced by youth in our
country. In education, the differences in numbers of gender, lack of infrastructure,
quality teachers etc. Employment and skill development areas need more investment;
youth is not ready for skill-based education. In the health sector, most of the youth do
not have access to proper healthcare facilities. Lifestyle-related factors include stress
and sedentary lifestyle, obesity. In the political area, the lack of involvement of youth
and representation in parliament is a challenge.

The challenges faced by NYP include lack of investment in youth which is less than
1% of GDP. About 30% of youth fall under neither in employment nor in education.
According to UNICEF 2019, at least 47% of youth are not on track to have the
education and skills necessary for employment in 2030. The pandemic contributed to
an increase in unemployment.

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The speaker talked about some opportunities we can take advantage of with the right
kind of actions ad policy, for e.g. The window of demographic dividend is available
in different states at different times due to population heterogeneity. With the right
kind of planning and actions, youth's potential can be leveraged upon across the
country. In the past, countries could benefit from youth potential when and where
they succeeded in providing quality education, good health, and decent employment
to all uniformly, not to just a segment of the population. In the same manner, India
can gain from demographic opportunity with policies and programs in line with the
demographic shift. Youth engagement and wellness need to be addressed as an
important development issue. Looking at health and wellness's contribution towards
sustainable development, a ‘health-in-all-policies’ approach can be adopted. Health
infrastructure needs to be strengthened and integrate interdisciplinary training for
healthcare providers to be sensitive to local realities. Adaptation of good practices
followed globally to ensure productive engagement of youth. Lastly, the speaker
ended his speech with an emphasis on the role universities play in community
progress as a whole, and it should be a place where youth cangrow and evolve.

Keynote address-2: Promoting mental health of Youth: Crossroads and

roadmaps

Dr Jai Ranjan Ram, Senior Psychiatrist & Jt. Director, Mental Health Foundation,
Kolkata

Here in this session, the speaker focused on the opportunity that should not be missed
to emphasize mental health. To accomplish this, in this case, the points considered
were promotion and prevention of mental health, which seem similar but far more
diverse. He said promotion consists of enhancing the competencies, strengths, and
resources of individuals and societies, focusing on "enhancing". With the surplus
amount of data available in diverse platforms, especially by the WHO, one can
quickly get confused and understand basic things.

Mental health promotion is relatable to primary prevention. Promotion, there is a

need to consider who will be the context persons like children, elders, women, youth.
So uniqueness is required in promotional plans emphasizing the local context and
resources. The resource person highlights an example of parents, their children
suffering from mental health issues, and what place they go first for treatment; the
answer is local astrologists seeking for their children's good health. However, the
catch is, the other person used this opportunity and convinced these astrologists to
refer those parents to the centers he runs. The bottom line he suggests that, before
promoting, proper homework is needed identifying the places people visit, who are
resources and how to collaborate with them. Speaker emphasized the wisdom
available and don't just blackout by being niche, rather research and find relatable
global contexts.

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The presenter then emphasizes the parity between physical and mental health
promotion, although the answer is no. Since physical being's promotion differs from
mental health, in terms of programs, suggestions, funding, social involvement. There
is a lack of parity between the two. People are not so prompt with mental health; the
reason may be a lack of mental health perspectives in public health, lack of
practitioners, budget allocation. Being a mental health practitioner, the speaker said
that the results could be more economically sensible when stressing the primary
prevention of mental health promotion.

Then comes the Indian story, and the author highlights two well-known initiatives by
the Indian government. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, aiming at early
intervention but lacks in promoting mental health, while Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya
Karyakram emphasizes adolescents and mental wellbeing. The session then directed
more towards the evidence from India, scrutinizing the reality. Is mental health is at
the forefront? Does this make sense in every location like Tezpur, Assam, even if it is
popular in other states? Meanwhile, many other programs like Seher in Bihar found
that the efforts are worthy and work.

Need, how to do it, and is it going in the correct direction? Must be answered where
the evidence suggests that it is possible and it is working. Talking only about the
youth, drug abuse/addictions, depression/self-harm are the two domains that need to
be focused on promoting mental health programs. Youth don't know that they have
mental health problems; they must be educated and encouraged to know mental
health better and maintain it. The author said that stigma is more inherent across the
country, so knowledge must be enhanced. The active ingredients of wellbeing should
be targeted by going back rather than taking a narrow approach, at least after this
pandemic. Searching for active ingredients, then examine the community's missing
ones and individuals to prevent them from the disease spectrum.

The speaker then highlights the challenges, where he said there is a stiff gap in
perception from the clinician's side as people are not used to promoting mental health
models with the vision of nirvana for all. So, challenges must overcome and be keen
on them; they can be successfully achieved. Practitioners must dump in the disease-
based models, search for collaborations in a society where knowledge can be shared,
and think more critically. Speaker said, if the practitioners do not enable these
environments, there will be charlatans seeking to occupy those gaps. It is an
imperative duty of experts to work on training people and serve them effectively
actively.

Answering how to do this, he said, mapping available assets and identifying risks can
significantly help in initializing the things by rying to involve communities, develop
collaborations, digital means to help reach people effectively, overcoming the
hindrances of delivery after the pandemic. In conclusion, since digital media is a
prevalent area where one can easily reach youth, the answer is here, utilize the power
of social media to cure mental health issues were planning an intervention must be
SMART, scientific evidence-based.

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Topics Covered By the Resource PersonsDay 1

Mental Health Challenges among Youth: Picking up early signs of distress

Dr Angshuman Kalita Asst. Professor of Psychiatry, LGB Regional Institute of

Mental Health, Tezpur

The age group of people 10-28 years has 1.8billion(200 hundred crore people )
whereas India has the highest population of youth 35 crore. Youth is the most
important phase of life, the formative period of life where we learn new skills,
explore the world, and undergo various physical and mental changes. These mental
changes are influenced by society, the accepted norms, peer groups, information
gathered from school internets, and even families. In 2017 the national mental health
survey was conducted in few states of the country, including Assam. In the finding,
nearly about 6% of Assam youth are suffering from mental illness. Around 27% of
youth are suffering from substance use.

Teenage is a golden period. Mental health challenges for youth are different for
different generation. The speaker further discussed present challenges like the
gradual decline of face-to-face communication due to social media and the internet
and change in lifestyle to reduce physical exercise and outdoor games. The root cause
is the internet and social media. He shared his first mobile phone experience where
the only information source was journals, textbooks and library.

Talking about mental health, various set of questions come to our mind about ideal
mental health, target age, need for good mental health, recognizing mental health
issues and where to seek help. Younger generation is our future and makes the world
a better place to live in but the answer to the last two questions is the main
discussion. The myth is that issues like anxiety, depression, bullying, and harassment
are issue that affect us at younger age and will not affect adulthood. However, this is
not the case. These behaviors should be intervened as soon as possible, be it in any
stage of life. Identifying and intervening should be our priority.

Feelings, emotions, and thoughts constitute a normal person's mind; these are
fluctuating. One can be happy in the morning but sad at night. One feeling sad,
tensed, and off is very typical; the problem occurs when these feelings and emotions
last longer, usually one month, then it becomes problematic and disrupts one's social,
academic/occupational life.

These indications may indicate probable mental illness. Terminologies like stress,
mood swings, and phobia are often used casually, not in a problematic way.
However, when these terminologies are used on a more regular basis indicates
underlying health conditions. Recognizing and seeking help is necessary for ensuring
a healthy life.

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 According to a survey, children's main reasons for stress are grades, homework, and
results. 75 % due to grades exams,74 % due to homework,51 % due to self-esteem
or inferiority complex, 45% due to parental expectation, and 15% is caused due to
bullying. Exams phobia creates stress in kidsas well as in teens. Stress affects people
mentally as well as physically. The symptoms are usually body aches, headaches,
dizziness, depression, and anxiety. These affect the immune system and other diseases
like cold, diarrhea, disrupted sleeping and eating habits.

Interestingly, some people develop neurological and mental health conditions inside a
mother's womb. Later that condition amplifies in adolescents, for instance, specific
learning disorder, intellectual disability, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and
mental retardation. The speaker said psychiatric illness that affects youth includes
depression, anxiety, self-harm, PTSD, eating disorders, body image issues, substance
abuse etc .Possible causes includes genetic history of problems in family, mental
illness of parents exposed to violence, family conflict broken homes, child abuse,
inconsistence parenting styles. And, the sign includes– poor sleep, being fidgety and
clumsy, avoiding interaction social events etc, physical symptoms like sweating,
dizziness, blushing, muscle tension and shaky voice, embarrassment, anxiety about
future events.

The following are the types of depression

1) Dysthymia- low mood

2) Adjustment disorder with depressed mood- difficulty in adjustment issue like

moving to newplace

3) Bipolar disorder- mood swings, excess happiness excess sadness

4) Major depression

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Talking on suicide, speaker showed few news clippings about suicide in the younger
generation, especially in institutes in Kota where 70% of children who died by
suicide suffered from depression. As a measure, the mediation center directed to
include extracurricular activities to reduce the class time. Depression anxieties are
through psychological treatment and medicines. The suicidal feeling is associated
with depression. Other risk factors include a family history of suicide attempts,
exposure to violence, impulsivity, aggressive or destructive behavior, access to
firearms, bullying, feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, acute loss of something
or rejection.

Children and adults are thinking about suicide may openly say such things .other
warnings of suicidal thoughts may include change in eating and sleeping habits,
frequent or possessive sadness, stop planning and talking about the future, they may
give price possession.

Addiction, substance abuse, and alcohol are responsible for declining mental health.
Even video games act as an addiction. The probable reason youth uses substances is
to get high or relieve tension, receive physical pain, have a good time with friends,
cultural influences, etc.

Five type of substance s include

 Depressants – result in behavioral sedation ex – alcohol sedative

 Stimulant – increase alertness and mood. Ex – cocaine, caffeine , nicotine
 Opiates- primarily produce analgesia and euphoria .ex -heroine morphine
codeine
 Hallucinogens- creates hallucinations. Ex- marijuana LSD,
 other drugs of abuse – includes inhalants, anabolic steroids, medications

It is problematic when it harms the health and presides over everything else.

According to ICD 11, in a 2016 survey by common sense media, Internet addiction
disorder is now an official medical entity. Half of the teenagers said they are addicted
to their phones. Three-fourths or three-quarters of them said they feel compelled to
text back to respond to social media notification.

Body shaming – body-shaming is increased due to more use of social media and
creating a beauty [Link] minds of children are affected by the glamour set seen
on social media. In an attempt to imitate or replicate, many fail to blow to their self-
esteem. They fall prey to depression bullying includes physical, social, verbal, cyber
bullying due to Body shaming bullying which is either on color, weight, physique.

As a result of bullying, 30 percent of students have self-harmed, 30 percent have

suicidal thoughts, 20 percent skip classes,10 percent have attempted failed suicide
attempts, 10 percent started substance.

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The speaker suggested following ways children can deal with bullying

1. 1 speaking up
2. Walk away if speaking up is too hard
3. Laugh it off
4. Find an adult to stop the bullying 5. Talk about it
5. Stay near to adults

“What mental health need is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed
conversation.”

Speaker concluded topic with a inspiring story of a healthy teen boy who was
influenced by wrong peers into substance abuse and suffered from depression
who finally overcome his addiction and depression with help of family, institute
friends.
Does mind matter for youth?’- Youth Mental Health and wellbeing during
COVID and beyond

Dr Diptarup Chowdhury, Asst. Professor of Clinical Psychology & Coordinator,

Youth Wellness HUB, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health

Tama Dey, Clinical Psychologist, Youth Wellness HUB, LGB Regional Institute of
Mental Health

Dr Diptarup Choudhury succeeded in creating active listening and active

participation in the workshop within four walls in the hall, starting with a quick round
of introduction with a game. Whoever would catch the ball had to introduce oneself
with name, where they are from, and feeling about the workshop. And then throw the
ball to a student wearing the same color cloths. Students responded actively and
quickly introduced themselves using multiple languages. They were excited, nervous,
energetic and happy about the workshop and were from different parts of India.
Students were very involved in the game.

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The speaker asked to take a break and think about the feelings right now and match it
with the five emojis presented below.

Students responded with their current state of mood. They were feeling neutral,
balanced, sad, extremely happy, extremely sad, happy. We reflect emotion into our
life. Speaker further asked to now relate emoji with the most of the time in life. The
average answers happy, balanced. the speaker explained about happiness formula (H)

Questions were asked to students about finding out the active ingredients in the
happiness formula. Their replies were good mood, positive thinking, hobbies, liking,
music, photography, achieving dreams, peace of mind, sharing moments with loved
ones, money, traveling, and good spouse

But according to research, happiness (H)=S (Setpoint/biological set point) + C

(Circumstances) + V (voluntary action)

A set point is who we are, what we have inherited biological for eg, cheerfulness

40-50% of our happiness depends upon our set point.

Circumstances or situations determine the level of happiness. For, e.g.,
Stressful andtraumatic situations reduces the level of happiness.10% of
happiness is dependent upon C
V is the action or step we take. This determines the rest 40-50% of the
happiness which is inour control.

Circumstances depends upon the voluntary actions . what we do determines our next
situation.

17
The speaker said having 1 lakh rupees would be temporary happiness and how one
will spend it would determine the time of happiness. This is the idea of the hedonic
treadmill effect. It would make one happy for the time being. So money does not
make us happy it is the idea of how to spend it makes us happy.

Happiness is wellness, which includes feeling well and steps taken to feel well that is
happy. It also includes the wellness of oneself and others. wellness is explained on
two scales of illness and wellness. Various permutations and combination are made
present. Psychological illness does not make sense of wellness that means beings
psychological illness/stress would For eg one can feel happiness in stress.

The definition of feeling good is not enough; we have to do good things to feel
happy. That is the difference, and wellness is not happiness. Wellness is different
from person to person. A group activity was done where a story of wellness was to be
discussed between friends sitting beside to each other. The response to the feeling of
wellness was fascinating. Feeling sad indicates one's value and existence and about
the future.

Speaker asked about the experience of the last nine months' life to the participants
where the audience replied as positives well as negatives using words like amazing,
horrible. The conclusion was made that everyone has different kinds of life in the last
nine months. A quick activity regarding life journey from moving one place to
another, including meeting new people, having a new experience, different food,
unexplainable feelings, and obstacle and survival kits the surviving jacket includes
winter jacket shoes. Life's journey moves from one point in life to another point in
life with experiences, obstacles, and the survival kit helps to overcome. Now the
journey of life is broken down into three phases for example: pre covid phase, covid
phase coming up phase, and activity was done wherein a set of question for pre-covid
phase were asked in which when and where the journey started who were the favorite
people around, milestones and memories and obstacles faced and what were the
survival kits.

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The second part included the post-covid phase, including the same questions
regarding milestones and obstacles; survival kits were written down. And, In the
upcoming phase, what the participants wished to happen, are there any places or
things they wish to see, or any obstacles one can foresee to overcome and hope for
2021.

(An example of the activity)

One of the students showed her life journey in 2019,2020 and 2021 where she
mentioned her survival kits, obstacles, hopes, milestones, and survival kits. This
activity helped her to experience and knowledge about milestones about goals—all in
one place.

No matter what obstacle is, we can always overcome and find a path .it also shows
an optimistic view of one experiences not only the sadness and demoralizing story
of 2020 and added much more things of the story of the pandemic and prospective of
future and homework was given at the end of meeting to make the journey of life In
three phases. The whole idea was summed up to natural- looking and redefining what
we are rethinking of what we can do in a life that is the soul idea of the pursuit of
wellness. Just to put in the endless effort and walk the path of endless towards
wellness. Wellness is a journey, not the end.

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 DAY 2

Inviting wellbeing in new modes of learning: Managing challenges & discovering

opportunities to grow as an online learner

Dr. Anindita Bhattacharya, Faculty, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Dr Anindita Bhattacharya started her speech by giving an glimpse of how the sudden
change in the pattern of learnig took place because of the pandemic, i.e. from real
time learning to virtual online classes. She emphasized on the question of whether
online classes are boon or bane? She received mixed responses from the audiences.
She reflected from her personal experience of taking online classes, some non active
students were active in online classes. They post questions in the chat box. She
emphasizes on the need of metacognitive awareness in online classes for both
students and teachers. Online classes have driven to think innovative ways of
learning . Online classes created a sense of responsibility amongst the students as the
onus lied on them to search for their own motivation of learning.

Then she spoke about common challenges faced by both teachers and students due to
the sudden transition in the pattern of learning. They are disadvantage due to little
earlier experience of teaching and learning online She cited some common challenges
as mentioned in a survey by Barnes and Nobles Education Survey(2020). The survey
talked about 6 common challenges in online learning. These are as follows

 Technical difficulties
 Managing time and distractions
 Managing motivation
 Lack off in person interaction
 Adopting technology
 Uncertainty

Firstly, technical difficulties are inevitable in online learning, it includes the low
power supply, high speed internet connectivity, patchy mobile networks. These
challenges need to be addressed in order to have efficient and successful teaching and
learning online classes. Secondly, the students face problem in managing time and
avoiding various kinds of distractions. Mental distractions include anticipating
upcoming classes and exams, surfing on internet, apps notifications. Physical
distractions include family members disturbing the students. Thus being attentive and
focusing is very difficult for the students in online classes.

Thirdly, motivating oneself to work form home and creating that mindset is
challenging as people like to stay in a state of comfortability at home doing some
recreational activity. Fourthly, lack of in person interaction and lack of social
interactions amongst students acuses a state os despair or loss of human interaction.
Fifthly, adopting newer technology in a short span of time induces difficulties for
both students and teachers. Lastly, uncertainty is considered to be the most difficult
challenge which constantly looms over the youth. The uncertainty of their future,
pandemic ending and their examination triggers anxiety and stress among them.

20
She focused on the common mistakes that we make in managing time and
motivation. The first major mistake is that we do not keep others in the loop. There is
a requirement to inform others and the family not to disturb students when online
classes are going on. Students' second mistake is not following a proper schedule and
creating a rough structure for managing the time 500 3rd mistake that students are
waiting until the last minute and not prioritizing the academic work. They prioritize
household chores and other things at home, and the fourth mistake that students make
is that we get into online engagements like web browsing and social media. Once
students get into social media, they do not realize the amount of time wasted on it.

Moreover, students' fifth mistake is not showing up or seeing updates of the earlier
classes. The sixth mistake is not sharing problems with the instructor. In an online
class communication is the key ingredient. They should communicate adequately
with the instructor about their problems like technical audibility and network issues.
Introduction by family members full stop classrooms are the best environment to
study and to impart teaching.

The next aspect on which the speaker has focused are the Strategies for dealing with
these challenges. One of the most important ways of dealing with the challenges is
minimizing distractions. The first and foremost thing the speaker mentions is creating
a conducive environment for learning. Thus, making the physical environment more
suitable fr learning to avoid physical distractions. For mental distractions, an
arrangement can be made on the gadgets that temporarily bar from browsing the net
and using social media. The next thing that needs to be focussed is Task Management
which is what to do and went to complete the tasks using a calendar and creating
daily and weekly to-do lists. These are some of the essential aspects of online
learning. It is also essential that students organize the electronic data by making
separate folders for each course so that it becomes easy for them to retrieve it later.
The last strategy is to develop netiquettes.

Sometimes students cannot concentrate on their studies due to a lack of efficient

work. To eradicate these problems, we need to practice active learning for practice to
study in groups.

Lack of attention and concentration can be dealt with by communication with the
instructor. Lack of proper sleep due to a distorted balance of daily life also affects
mental health. thus, Meditating and relaxing processes and techniques can help in
these cases; to increase concentration. the speaker then goes ahead and discusses
how to self-care

Adequate Sleep
Eating healthy
Taking breaks
Exercising
Keeping a journal
Connect with others

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The speaker started an activity where the participants were divided into four groups
and were given hypothetical vignettes of a girl a named Sunita, who was in her first
year of college. She is a very social and outgoing person; she thrives on attention
from her classmates. She immediately likes to clear her doubts. After online classes,
she misses mundane activities in her college. She is feeling extremely isolated. Group
1, was asked to look at the situation closely and reflect upon what is happening here.
How can Sunita keep her social life alive while managing her course demands? What
could some of the strategies she could adopt?

One of the participants related herself to the Sunita and faced the same problem. She
says the person feels demotivated, and her mental state is deteriorating. The problem
lies in not being able to connect virtually as she would have done in real space. Sunita
needs to be more adaptable to the situation. She can play online games with her
friends and stay connected to them online. She can indulge more in her hobbies and
find the motivation to keep going ahead. She could try to connect with people around
her.

For group two, the second vignette is of Anusuya who is in her third year of college,
and she has been a very bright student. Lately, she realizes that it's difficult to
concentrate on online classes and finds herself distracted every time. Her attention
span has decreased due to the passive role of listening without active participation.
She finds herself distracted with her phone notifications, especially when she is trying
to prepare for her assignments. She misses essential deadlines for assignment
submissions and is finding it challenging to keep up with the course's demands that
she feels that she does not have enough time for anything socializing with friends or
families.

The group answered that they find it relatable, as they face the same problems due to
mobile notifications, familial discrepancies, lack of one-to-one communication. They
suggested that they should organize schedules for online classes to overcome
laziness. Through to-do lists and following those through determination can help her
overcome attention deficit problems.

The vignettes for group 3, Zubin is a 20-year-old male he's pursuing his journalism
honors he tends to think a lot. He gets worked up before exams. The online mood has
made his worries about exams worse he constantly fears that he will not be able to
live up to the expectations of the course instructor his anxiety peaks right before the
exams. He finds it difficult to focus on anything, then he starts catastrophizing right
before his exams that he will do terribly. He knows that he's over thinking but is
unsure as to what would help him.

The group says Zubin has anxiety and is always continually worrying. He should
make a timetable and manage his studies. The group suggests that he should
meditate, relax and be optimistic rather than worrying. Zubin can listen to music to
calm his nerves before his exams.

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The vignettes for group four is of Manik, known in his friend circle as a quiet person
he has always preferred to ask questions outside the classroom the online learning
mode has been a bit tedious for him numerous hours of online engagement where
most of the time the expectation is that everyone will put up questions for participate
in online discussions have been quite overwhelming sometimes Manik also gets
anxious when the professor asks him to unmute and respond to questions he has
always avoided the limelight and being on the spot is quite unnerving for him a
professor also recently reached out showing his concern for Manik's non-
participation in class so Manik has been wondering how best to deal with the
situation considering his temperament and the demands of online learning.
The group reflected that Manik is an introvert who has less confidence. Manik can
overcome this by asking questions in the chatbox and take suggestions from his
friends. He should discuss his problems with his professor.

At the end the speaker concluded by saying, these are difficult times and one should
be kind to themselves and others.

Relationship and intimacy in virtual and real spaces

Dr Shobhana H, Associate Professor of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional

Institute of MentalHealth

Dr Suvarna Joshi, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Mumbai

Dr. Shobhana H encouraged a small game where the audience would get to know
each other, with ones in the virtual space while others in the offline mode. A game of
finding different ways to introduce each other, where each person had to say their
name and give an adjective related to the first letter.

(A participant giving an introduction)

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One participant said, “Hi I am Aditya, and I am Awesome in this kind of
environment.” The participants had a great time indulging in each other’s persona,
laughing.

This whole activity promoted a healthy interaction between different varieties of

people present there. They got to know important aspects about each other,
meanwhile shared their key points. The virtual speaker (Dr. Suvana Joshi) correctly
stated the difference between a real-life interaction and a virtual interaction between
people. In a real space people tend to have more intimacy and confrontations than in
a virtual space.

Getting on to the topic, the speaker wanted to know from the audience that “what do
they mean by intimacy and relationship?”, she encouraged the audience to say
whatever comes to their mind, whether that is right or wrong.

(A snippet from the virtual classroom)

It can be “connection”, “closeness”, “fondness”, “understanding”, “love”,

“compatibility”, “care”, “attachment” , the audience answered.

Dr. Joshi again asks,” what are the different kinds of relationship that comes into
audience’s mind when they think about the word “intimacy”? It can be physical
intimacy, emotional intimacy as perceived by some people. Dr. Joshi again clarifies,
“what are the different relationships that include intimacy?” it can be – “our loved
ones”, “our parents”, “our friends”, “extra- marital relationships”.

The speaker was happy that the audience had shed light upon quite a few aspects of
intimacy. We all get to see the diverse meanings attached to the word “intimacy” in
accordance to different people. There are even different kinds of intimacy- physical,
emotional, intellectual, and so on. So the speaker encourages the audience to keep a
broad spectrum in their mind when they talk about “intimacy” further down the
session. According to Dr. Joshi, the first thing that comes to mind when we think
about intimacy is our partners' romantic relationship.

24
However, it is not only limited to that. Any close relationship or attachment with
someone can have intimacy in different levels, including family, friends and many
other spaces like workplace.

Moving on Dr Shobhana, starts an activity to further enhance the understanding on

the given topic, where she divided the whole audience to four groups and each group
will come up with a scenario which involves issues and challenges of relationships.
Among the four groups, two groups would discuss the scenarios within the real space
where as the other two would put forward their views regarding the virtual space. The
intention of the speaker was to enable the audience to come up with stories regarding
the issues which they can come forward and present in front of everyone. The story
can shed light on any one challenge that people feel within a relationship that the
people in those groups have either experienced in their own life or they can relate
such challenges regarding the people around them.

As the activity began, the groups were formed according the chocolate they chose.
The groups were called Alpenlibe , Milkybar, Koffeeco, Coffee bites. 15 minutes
were given to the groups to decide on the story they are going to present. They were
moved to a different environment where they were being seated according to their
designated groups. They started discussing within themselves. They were given
papers to properly present their story.

(A group discussing and connecting virtually to others)

25
As the activity continued, the groups were asked to write down the questions that
arises from the story as well the probable solutions that can be done toward the
issues. 3- 4 mins were given to the teams to narrate the story loudly. The groups
looked quite engrossed in discussing the story and coming up with solutions. After
coming up with the story they were led back to the conference hall for narration.

Group 1 (Alpenlibe) started their narration which was presented by the group coffee
bite- the story is based on intimacy in real space. The story is about Ayan and Arohi,
who met at an educational institute. Arohi was attracted towards Ayan and wanted to
be his friend. She approached him to get help in her studies, and gradually they
started spending time together. Ayan started to develop feelings of love and care
towards Arohi, which Arohi did not reciprocate as she already had a boyfriend. This
issue created a strain in their friendship, and they started to spend more time apart.
Ayan also experienced mental breakdown by staying away from Arohi, and his
studies were affected. They both experienced that their harmony was necessary for
each other. Arohi decided to dump her boyfriend as she felt she was cheating on him,
as she started liking Ayan. They started talking together and remained friends
afterward.

The intimacy and emotional issues raised by the group are- Arohi had a attraction
towards Ayan, but when Ayan started to developed feelings for her, she could
perceive it as she had a boyfriend already.

When the relationship between Ayan and Arohi started falling apart, Arohi was under
mental stress and could not focus on her studies. However, she also had other
options; she could have made other friends who could help her in her studies other
than Ayan.

Again, for Ayan, when he started to spend more time with Arohi and started to have
such feelings for her, he had no idea that Arohi has a boyfriend already. When he
came to know of it, he immediately stayed apart from her. This can be perceived as
he was blaming Arohi, that she did not do right with him. So indirectly, he was
forcing Arohi to feel bad and entertain mental stress.

The last issue was when they started their friendship at the first instance, they could
have shared all the emotional issues and struggles that were going through their life.
That could have helped them to mitigate the issues that came afterward.

They had a repugnant communication and did not relate to each other well, as clearly
justified by the speaker. The speaker asked the group to share the thoughts they had
while they were writing the story and what could have been the solutions here.
Moreover, how did they perceive the approach given by the other team?

The group that had written the story admits that talking and communication is the key
to maintaining a strong intimate relationship. Dr Joshi also wholly agrees with the
aspect of such dilemmas. They do arise in close relationships, and clear
communication is the most crucial aspect here.

26
She also highlights another kind of dilemma: sometimes our feelings are not
reciprocated adequately by the opposite person, and also to the point that it can affect
our own life. Particularly in the domain of romantic relationships, we often switch
between various roles. Somebody at a time was just a friend, but now that person is
closer to us. It also helps to be mindful of these changing roles in diff relationships
that we play. For example- how we relate to somebody as a friend and how we relate
to somebody as a romantic partner is distinct. When our roles change, our needs also
change from that specific person. Communication for those needs are essential here.

(A Group narrating their story)

The second group presented their story on virtual intimacy in relationships, which
goes like- the recent studies show that 10 to 20 percent of the teenagers only go out
from their home to play, and the rest remain at their homes in Japan. The reason for
this is, they are mainly engaged in the virtual world like playing video games etc. as
they aren’t connected to the actual space, they face problems in communication as
well as they cannot express their feelings appropriately. According to them, the
virtual world is much better. So when they face criticisms like body shaming and
others, they do not want to confront it. They live in a pseudo world where they can
live as they want. So they do not perceive the excitement of being in the real world.
The group concludes that people tend to live in a virtual world because they are
unhappy with the real world. They use it as a mode of escape.

So the solution for this is suggested as they should communicate more with their
parents and loved ones as it is easy to do so. The parents in return, should be
friendlier and be more lenient in communicating and giving them freedom in
expressing themselves. Another solution can be, awareness must be carried out for
issues like body shaming, etc. family should act as a media and a shield for their
child. (1:21)

27
Dr. Joshi said virtual space may look like a perfect world, and real-life problems
are missing there. So a seemingly false perfect world makes us forget and avoid such
problems.

The third group presents the story, which goes on like- Rahul was staying in Delhi
and residing on a renting floor. Due to Covid, the lockdown started in March. Rahul
is stuck in his room with the uncertainty of the future. His parents lived in Kolkata
and were worried about him. Most of his friends were able to reach home, but Rahul
could not. He could contact his loved ones through online media but was not content.
After 5 months, he was able to meet his parents and got very emotional and clear all
his inside doubts and fears.

The group suggests that, as the pandemic hit the whole world, safety was most
important. We could not reach emotional sanity through loved ones, but we can
indulge in hobbies and meditation for self-relaxation. We can’t get a perfect life,
but we can try to make it happier. So Rahul should focus in that only. He can
entertain himself in many ways through virtual Medias too.

Dr Joshi stated that this story clearly shows what virtual media has opened up for us.
Especially in this pandemic, virtual media has allowed us to cross geographical
barriers and still connect us with our loved ones. These are the advantages of having
technological advancements.

Moving on to the fourth group, they stated a story about the mother-child
relationship. Where the child experienced a phase where his mom faced an accident,
he came back from school to this news and rushed to the hospital. From that day on,
she was in a coma for the next six years. The child considers himself lucky that he
could hear his mother’s voice for the last time. From that time, the child loses the
interest and affordance of intimacy and relationship with his mother and other people.

The group considers that, mother is the child's emotional stability, but after the
coma period, the child should try and communicate more with his mother for a better
future. His friends should also encourage and motivate him for something better in
future dates.

This was a true story that one of the group member faced in his life, and he admits
that he could not perceive what’s going on with his life and relationships. That is the
main reason he attended the seminar. He visibly thanked all the group members for
suggesting something to help him recover.

When we lose an intimate relationship, the speaker admits that it unimaginably

affects our lives and is very commendable when someone tries to cope up and
survives. Dr. Joshi further adds that sharing such a sensitive topic and having the
courage to discuss it helps us overcome and heal. Moreover, this is how intimacy
builds between the group members. Intimacy with our loved ones id the meaningful
mist thing in our lives, and when it gets missing, we get heartbroken. That is what
makes the relationship valuable.

28
Before winding up, the speaker urged the audience to speak something which reflects
the whole session. As correctly said by one person- before the activity began,
everyone was a stranger to each other, but when this ended, they found a meaningful
purpose and relationship. So if we reach out, a stranger can become a best friend.

Dr Joshi remarked that virtual reality has indeed been a great help in connecting
people. There are barriers, but we have sufficient resources to address those
challenges. Furthermore, whatever problems we are facing, be it in real space or a
virtual one, we need to look within.

Creating safe spaces for ALL: Youth belonging to gender-minority and other
marginalized groups

Raviraj Shetty, Senior trainer & Occupational therapist, Ummeed Child

Development Centre, Mumbai

The speaker started his session mentioning an instagram account called ‘almari’
(closet), and quoteda post called a refuge.

“They call this place a refugeMy closet is a retreat

It’s where I go after a long painful day of wondering if my voice was too low and
manly or if the skirt I am wearing makes me look like I am cross dressing
My closet is that space where I seize to be a body of any gender and become a mere
human life in ashape
I can take the breaths here , there are no wall to contain me or the amount of air I
can take into mylungs.
Out here I can cover up the different shapes of my body with long t-shirts and to be
true to [Link] are laced blouses, floral dresses, fitted suits and leather jackets
hanging in my closets rack where be for any place to put out for the world
There are old DVDs and classical music here I get to choose whatever I want to do
I m surrounded by paints and old brushes with only companion who tell me about
how graceful mywrist can be
The only other living being which able to live in this refuge is my
black cat “smoky”He sits on my lap and without a care in the
world about what I chose to wear , etc. ”

29
 (Raviraj Shetty narrating the post)

The speakers discussed about the poem that the girl was not happy with the world but she found
her safe place in a closet where she can feel free. She also found her companion in her art form
who always make her happy and a cat who never judge her but accept the way she is.

After summarizing the speaker asked them to be in pairs and interview each other. The
speaker suggested birth months will decide partners .The speaker had certain questions
for them.

30
He said a safe space can be a physical place, an emotional place linked to their
imagination, art, or even a person. He also asked them to discuss if they found the
place or created it over the time. Moreover, the discussion stayed amongst the group
and the content was not discussed openly but the participants shared the experience
of the activity.

He gave 15 min for the discussion and then he will have a group discussion.

While narrating their experience, one of the groups reflected on how well they have
bonded with each other. They felt that they underwent problems that were relatable to
each other. They will continue to be connected virtually post-workshop. The impact
of the activity was tremendous as theyended addressing each other as brothers.

While a participant felt her feelings were quite similar to her partner, they felt that her
understanding of the questions and problems was the same as her partner. Even
though they are different from each other in their personalities, they can find
similarities in their problems and connect

Activity

The speakers asked the participants to draw the safe spaces they discussed with their
partners in the previous activity; they were provided sheets and colors. The speaker
asked the participants to cover the sheets with their imagination and leave no blank
space. He clarified that they have to merge their idea of safe space with their partner
and draw it in single sheet. They were also asked to name their safe spaces.

(Participants drawing safe spaces)

31
After the drawing session everyone were asked to stand with their drawings in hand.
Then they were asked to make a symbol or design with all the sheets arranged on
podium to represent something meaningful. The participants decided to make a
symbol of heart on the podiumwith the drawing sheets.

At the end, the speaker asked about their experience of the seminar. The participants
responded that they felt fantastic and happy because they get to know each other and
shared their idea with their partners.

The speaker asked did they learned or felt something of novelty anything in his
session of the workshop. They felt amazing because even though they didn’t
know each other, after discussing these problems, they felt relieved. Even though
they never met before, they felt like they knew each other.

Building resilience through peer and community support

Jehanzeb Baldiwala, Head, Mental Health Division, Ummeed Child Development

Centre

(ACTIVITY)

The session was about conducting activities and conversation amongst the
participants. Resilience is the actions that support us in surviving, thriving, hoping
and coping and experiencing well being. Resilience can be developed through
supportive relationships and opportunities for skill buildings. The foundation of
resilience lies is the ability to plan, monitor, and regulate behaviour, and adapt to
changing circumstances-that better enable them to respond to adversity when faced
with.

32
Activity 1

The participants of the hub were asked to participate in the activity where they were
asked to write the names under one of the five children's wordless picture books they
would love to read. The bookswere
 ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker
 ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers
 ‘Ish’ by Peter H Reynolds
 ‘A Hat for Mr Mountain’ by Soojin Kwak
 ‘Guthli has wings’ by Soojin Kwak

(Participants writing their names under the name of book they desire to read)

The participants who chose to read the same books were grouped together were asked
to read the books and answer following questions.

(A group reading and discussing about the book)

33
 1) What skill does a character use in the book use to cope up with mental stress ?
2) Why do you appreciate the said skill?
3) How would you explore and use the same skill in real life?
4) Is there any other skill that you would want to share with the character?
5) Share experiences on ways to protect and sustain own mental well being or
of someone youknow?

Meanwhile, the resource person drew attention to the activity wherein she mentioned
the importance of stories in helping a better understanding of resilience and how it is
connected to overall well- being.

She emphasized that resilience is something that can be developed:

1. It is built through skills of figuring out problems and planning, execution,

and identifying agoal.

2. She also emphasized the importance of being in someone's company, and the
support of peersand elders affects the person's emotional well-being.

3. Being hopeful about little things in life inculcates the ability to keep going on
in life.

She hoped that participants could identify the skill sets required to build resilience
from thechildren’s stories and personal experiences.

Group 1 -‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker

The group summarises the book about a lonely girl who desires attention from her
family. Dejected, the girl lies on her bed, where she finds a magical pencil. She drew
a door with the pencil, which became real and served as a doorway to a magical
world. She drew along the creating a boat, a balloon, and a flying carpet that carried
her in that kingdom. Once she saw a captured bird by the ruler of the magical
kingdom. She helped the bird escape with the help of her magic pencil. The bird
escaped, but the emperor captured the girl. The bird came back with a pencil and
rescued her, and the bird took her to different door from where she had come, She
realises later that a boy had drawn the bird. They befriend each other.

From the story, the group’s learning was that a gesture of kindness and being
benevolent to others repays in the future.

Group 2 -‘ How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers

The group narrates that it’s a story of a boy as he goes on a quest to catch a star of his
very own, exploring the boy’s plots to seize his star – ranging from using a lifebelt as
a lasso to jumping up and grabbing it. He sees a star ‘floating’ in the water and he
thinks this is finally his chance get his prize – and so he does as a star fish washes up
on the shore. The ending to this book really is uplifting and heartwarming as the little
boy realizes his dream and catches his very own ‘star’.

34
The groups learning from the story is never to give up and strive hard to fulfill their
dreams even if it seems unattainable

Group 3 -‘A Hat for Mr Mountain’ by Soojin Kwak

The group narrates the story of Ms Nara who loves to make hats of all shapes and
sizes for the animals who visit her workshop in the forest. Then one day she receives
a letter from Mr Mountain: he wants a hat, too. Nara is up for the challenge, and knits
him an enormous woolly hat which is perfect until it shrinks in the rain. The
animals eat the leaf hat, the stick hat was burned to the ground. Feeling dejected,
she made hats until all the nails convinced her to find suitable material to build hats.
All the animals started to collect clouds and gave him to Nara’s house. She started
knitting clouds as a hat for Mr Mountain.

According to a group member, the story's learning was of never giving up and the
importance of teamwork.

Group 4-‘ Guthli has Wings

Guthli is everyone’s favorite — a happy child who likes to draw fairies, swing and
cycle. But then one day she is told not to wear her sister’s frilly frock that she loves,
but her ‘own’ boy’s clothes. Everyone scolds her for wearing frilly frocks since she
wishes to be a fairy. She was sad because everyone told her not to wear girls' clothes,
but her mother came her and gave her a fairy frock. This made her very happy.

The mother giving her a frock symbolized support to Guthli in what she wants to be.
The story is about gender identity issues where society dictates what gender she
should be. The skills of resilience that the group took as their key learning was to be
supportive and sensitive.

Group 5 -‘ Ish’ by Peter H Reynolds

The group narrates the story of the male protagonist, Ramon, who loves to draw –
anything, anywhere – but when his brother, Leon, laughs at his drawings, Ramon
loses his confidence and the joy of creating. After months of frustration, Ramon
decides to give up drawing altogether, until his younger sister reminds him that
drawings don't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

The group reflected that even though people's opinions disappoint and make us lose
confidence, we shouldn’t stop doing it to seek someone’s validation but for our own
happiness.

The speaker identified facing hardships and downfall is common in all the stories. All
the characters also a strong desire to fulfill their dreams. Speaking about the books,
the speaker spoke about the survival tool kit. The characters had their ideas, friends,
resources, family members, and if not, then they had their dreams to accompany
them.

35
Group 5 -‘ Ish’ by Peter H Reynolds

The group narrates the story of the male protagonist, Ramon who loves to draw –
anything, anywhere – but when his brother, Leon laughs at his drawings, Ramon
loses his confidence and the joy of creating. After months of frustration, Ramon
decides to give up drawing all together, until his younger sister reminds him that
drawings don't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

The group reflected that even though peoples opinion disappoint and makes us lose
confidence but we shouldn’t stop doing it for seeking someone’s validation but for
our own happiness.

The speaker identified facing hardships and downfall is common in all the stories. All
the characters also a strong desire to fulfil their dreams. Speaking about the books the
speaker spoke about the survival tool kit. The characters had their own ideas, friends,
resources, family members and if not then they had their dreams to accompany them.
The importance of resilience is to bounce back from adversities and hardships. Its
important to seek help at the times of need since we are not alone in our journey.

36
 DAY 3

Turning stress upside down: A strength focused approach to stress management

Dr Rajeev J Michael, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Kochi

The session was on a strength focus approach to stress management. Dr. Michael
starts the session as he explains the importance of a strength perspective in stress
management. He asks the audience about their ideas of stress and how to overcome
stress.

He gives an example of three people who are waiting for an interview where only one
can get in. all three of them experience stress, Person A feels that the stress is helping
him to focus more, Person C fees that he is in a problem, he can not be his good self
in stress, B feels that stress can help him in a way, but he is equally concerned about
it too. Research shows the three of them experience the same amount of stress, but A
can perform better than the other two as he will benefit from the stress. Studies have
shown that people experiencing stress have cardiovascular and other health
difficulties, which may lead to cause death. However, these harmful consequences
can only happen to those people who perceive stress as a problem. So how we look at
our stress is the central aspect.

According to our traditional psychologists, our ancestors had t regularly fight and run
from wild animals, which gave rise to the stress system to give the caveman the
strength to act. In the modern city, we do not have to fight for survival, but still the
stress system gets activated in some cases. For ex- while giving a presentation. So
our body helps to prepare and respond to the needs and challenges; that’s what the
stress system is. But sometimes, the situation is perceived as dangerous and the stress
is shown as a sign of threat which becomes anxiety to us.

To avoid such scenarios, the first thing we can do is- “shifting our focus” away from
the concept that stress is a problem; for example, a person named Sam Burn, a young
man suffering from an illness called progeria died at the age of 17.

Dr. Michael shows a snippet of “Sam burn’s talk,” where he shares his philosophy for
a happy life. He talks about three aspects: he focuses on what he can do in his
situation other than brooding over on what he can’t do. He shifts his attention from
stress to the things that can contribute to health and wellness in his life, like music
sports, so we need to train our attention for that, from negative vibes, which can be
stronger when we are under stress.

The second thing would be- “where should we put our focus on?” Two things lead to
happiness: circumstances and the other one is what we can do about it. Study shows
that our willingness to tackle the situation is more effective for a happy ambiance.
The concern is where we should focus on the situation or the willingness or how we
can respond to the situation. The more we look upon, what we can do, the more we
behave like an adult.

37
This theory again leads to “cultivating happiness that can help de-stress”.

Dr Michael asks the audience., how stressed they are in the last one month from a
scale of 1 to 10. The audience wrote their stress score, turned the paper upside down,
and were asked to draw a big circle on the backside with their hand and turn it into a
'smiley'. This smiley should reflect the way the person is feeling right now. They
were asked to hold the paper up, hold it against their face, and turn the paper toward
the score. The whole idea is that while there is some amount of stress within us, we
show to others that we are fine and smile. The majority of the audience draws a
face with a big hearty smile but the speaker said it's also okay to be sad. All emotions
are normal to humans, but if a human remains in that negative phase for a long time,
they can be a problem and unhealthy.

So mental or emotional health must be a balance of negative and positive emotions.

Stress gives an indication that we spend more enjoyable time with ourselves and
loved ones and balance the ratio of 1:3.

(Participants drawing smiley)

38
Dr. Micheal again shows a picture on the screen and asks the audience to say
whatever comes to their mind after seeing it. The audience says,” she looks very
happy”, “thinking about something interesting”, “she may not be happy but as she is
being photographed that why she is smiling”, “she may be dreaming about
happiness”, “might be thinking about her future”.

As we relate to such a picture and try to channelize it, Dr. Micheal clarifies that it
also gives us joy seeing such a happy face. He again shows pictures of happy babies,
so that the audience can relate to their positivity. Thus it is not very hard to shift our
minds towards a positive aura. These distractions are called positivity boosters. So we
need to cultivate happiness within us other than waiting for happiness to come from
outside. For example- a person feels drained and stressed , he opens his laptop and
watches the happy pictures of him and his friends having a good time. Then he listens
to some soothing music, which brightens his mood. Now he feels more energetic and
pleasant than he was before 2-3 hours, and comes out of his emotional stress through
boosters.

Moving on, the speaker starts an activity, where everyone in the audience has to
stand up and interact with another person he has least acquaintance with and ask the
following question-

While asking the questions, the conversation should be brief, and each person has to
ask this to three other persons. It is a two-way interaction system. The audience
seems energetic and engaging during the whole activity process. It was found that
when a person is facing an important event in his life, he comes across to some
amount of stress.

Then the speaker gave four Scenarios, and asks – which of the four scenarios are
more suitable for the audience. Most of the answers favored scenarios two and three,
where they were sometimes happy and sometimes not. Again, the speaker asks about
four choices in their life.

39
The audience chose the option “stress-free and happy”, but then the speaker cancels
the choice. If that choice is taken away, the audience again chooses the option,
“stress-full and happy”. So when something of value comes to our life, it brings
stress with it. So stress is good. The more we engage in our life, the more stressful it
becomes, but we avoid an engaging life, then we would be living a boring and
monotonous one. This is called the “stress paradox”.

The speaker engaged in one more activity, where the audience has to pick a paper
and write answerto the questions written in the slide.

40
After writing the answer, the speaker again asks where they found the given
circumstances stress full. He again asks what if all the agents that cause us stress
would be removed from our lives. However, that is not realistically possible.

The speaker then spoke about the "mindful ways to modify stress," not to remove
them. He shows a picture of a dog and a man. The man's head is filled with so many
things, but the dog's mind only views what he is seeing in front of him. It teaches
that, we need to stay in our actual environment and live it completely to have
emotional well-being. This is known as "Mindfulness". There are two modes of
mind- autopilot mode and mind fullness. Then the speaker asks what people chose for
their car when they are on a long journey and in heavy traffic. Obviously, they
would take charge and drive mindfully. The same goes with the human mind too.
Autopilot mode is fine when there is peace in life, but mindful ness and taking
charge of the mind are necessary for heavy stress. Do not let the mind wander away
on its own.

In order to master the art of mindfulness, the speaker suggests some exercises

Raisin Exercise- The participants were given one raisin and were asked to put it on
the left palm. They had to describe its shape and color, whether it's was dry and not in
a perfect shape. They are then asked to shift the raisin to the right hand, hold it in two
fingers, and look at it more clearly. Theycan see the transparent portion of the raisin –
its roots and veins etc. they can also feel the texture. Then they are asked to smell it
too. There must be anticipation that how its going to taste. Then they are to put it in
their mouth and feel the shape of it inside the mouth. Focusing on the feel, start to
chew and discover the various tastes coming out of it. This is a mindful activity.
After swallowing, people can also feel the juice leftover.

41
When asked about their experience- one person says it was exciting for him, as he
never spent this much time and focus on eating a small raisin. It also speeds up the
anticipation of eating.

The whole idea about this activity is that when we eat or do something with utmost
focus, the other thoughts vanish away from our minds. Thus gradually reducing our
stress percentage. This is practicing mindfulness.

Another effective exercise is focusing on the breath. If the mind wanders away, try to
come back and focus again. Gradually we learn to return our focus.

Moving on to the different kinds of stress- it may be acute or chronic stress. Acute
stress means that it can go into very high intensity. Chronic is- the stress which
stays on along time. Both are dangerous, and we need to know how to mitigate
them. Emotions do not stay; they come and go. However, sometimes we get hijacked
by certain emotions and lose our control.

This is called "emotional hijack". The speaker shows a video of an international

football matchwhere one player gets suddenly agitated and pushes the other player to
the ground and subsequently given a red card.

The audience says we should focus on our own success and not be carried away by
negative emotions. It is okay to defend, but attacking someone else through being a
victim of emotional stress is unhealthy. Strong emotions like jealousy are shown in
the video.

Another practice is "grounding," where someone has to focus on any of the five
senses. When something is bothering us, we can listen to a specific soothing sound or
focus on seeing an object. It brings down our emotions to a manageable level along
with the stress. The speaker suggests trying this before an exam or interview. And
summarizes the session by saying that, stress should be taken in appositive way as it
helps to reach out and focus, another thing is discovering ways to mitigate emotional
imbalance is also very important.

42
Mindful Photography

Nitin Das, Film-maker and Environmentalist, Delhi NCR

The speaker starts by highlighting that nowadays all of us has a camera in the smart
phones, but we take pictures mindlessly. Many of the pictures we do not even recap
and see. This device acts as a distraction that can disturb our mental health, which we
do not see in the short term. Now the question is how we can convert this mode of
distraction into a mode of meditation.

Speakers ask what matters the most- is it about the heart, or is it about the head? For
example- a heartbreak or a job opportunity. Most of the people were inclined towards
matters of the head, and some went for both. As they are both related, we need
mindfulness as a medium to answer complex questions in life. We are all different.
Thus the ways of mindfulness are also different for each of us. However, a study
shows the human mind is entirely peaceful and whole when it resides in the lap of
nature. The logical minds rest here, and the creative side begins to take over.

The speaker plays a short film where it is shown how nature heals our mind and gives
us answers subconsciously. Thie soothing story, tells the difference that nature
keeps on the human mind from being in a chaotic city environment. Chronic stress is
much lower, and people find peace and solace. This clip was a perfect example of
using mindfulness in photography.

Nowadays, people use social media and connections mindlessly, which impacts
mindfulness and emotional well-being. Photography is not about what we are
capturing. It depicts what the photographer has in mind, what he wants to shoot.

The session was about how we can use photography to learn mindfulness and
emotional stability. The speaker wants to take the audience through an exercise where
people can know about each other through photography. Here five photographs and
five themes are given where another one has to pick only one photograph for one
theme.

In speaker asks to reveal something about each person that they can associate with
nature. For example- “ I am a flower”.

43
In picture 1, the speaker represents himself within it. For others, it may be a picture
of a forest and river, but he sees a cloud in it. That is because the cloud gave birth to
the river and subsequently the forest. He sees himself as a cloud giving on ideas.

The second picture is of a plant “touch me not”. Tama dey views the plant as a
sensitive human who likes to keep to himself and closes its leaves when someone
touches it. However, at the same time, it welcomes the raindrops, thus a company of
positive aura is always welcome.

44
The 3rd picture is of a kitchen garden. Prof. Diptarup Choudhary represents himself
as a kitchen garden sprouting plants and growing, not having heed of how the fruits
might be.
This activity's significance is that, when we depict ourselves through a part of nature,
we begin to connect more towards it.

Moving on to the next exercise, which is all about finding contrasts in photographs.
In the first picture, the speaker finds the contrast in lighting, the landscape and wild
forests, the wilderness, and how humans managed to grow fields in it.

In the 2nd picture, the person finds that the grasses are cut in a line for the cement
road, but one grass has come out, representing the contrast in likeliness and
unlikeliness in life.

45
In the 3rd picture, in the kitchen garden, even though two sets of plants are planted
and watered at the same amount of time, still the cabbage row is healthy while the
okra plants are dying. Here the person finds the contrast in sun’s favourtism and
nature’s secret towards living beings.

The same thing happens with our lives too; everyday is full of contrast for us in the
way of challenges and problems. However, in a way they are also a part of us, and
we need to accept it. Moreover, we should train the mind to see the contrast in our
lives.

The following exercise is about identifying patterns. The first picture is of trees but
the speakers sees patterns of rivers, human nerves. Moreover, he admits it as a
miracle that how the same pattern links to so many other things.

46
In the 2nd picture, although being a simple leaf the pattern was interesting enough.
Moreover, the person was enthusiastic about the raindrops that stay at the edges of
the leaf.

In the third picture, the pattern in the small flowers that is almost not noticeable is a
beauty and makes a person feel welcomed.

Patterns have a soothing effect on our mind, as our brain requires less energy while
processing a pattern. So they make us realize that even our life has a pattern to it
being, and learning to train our mind to observe these patterns in life can actually
benefit in the long run keeps us going.

47
The following exercise is about the pictures that bring us great peace.

In the 1st picture, the mountains looked calming and peaceful to the speaker even
though living on a mountain a challenge.

48
In the 2nd picture. The Krishnachuda tree’s delicate leaf moments were peaceful to
the person in the morning breeze.

In the 3rd picture, a single bird sitting gives a sense of the world's vastness as the
person tries to understand the cosmos of nature.

Peace is not available for us all the time, so we need to find it somewhere. Be in a
human or a small part of nature. We can use the same photograph to remember the
peacefulness when we clicked it. Such pictures are not only images. They depict
emotions

The last exercise is about the pictures that show resilience.

49
In the 1st picture,the geese's flock flies from Tibet to India, despite harsh weather
conditions. This shows resilience in them.

The 2nd picture sprouts coming out of a broken tree show resilience and hopes as the
tree found a way to evolve.

The 3rd picture, even though the plant is situated at an inappropriate place, still it
reshapes itselfagain and again in order to cope up with the situation.

50
Sometimes we need some hope and positive sign within us, and it becomes difficult
to find one. So nature can always supply that source, filling us with a positive vibe, to
pull out from dark mood.

Summarizing all these, we can learn that photography is not about the subjects that
we capture, it is about the things that we have in mind while capturing it. Such
pictures are more powerful. Nature outside is the same as nature inside us. By
observing such things, we can apply it in our lives.

The speaker shows a short film which can satisfy the people with matters of heart and
mind. The beautiful poem is like an assurance from the nature that, it is with us in our
ups and downs, always and forever.

Multiple Ways to Wellness: ‘The Youth Wellness HUB project’

Dr Diptarup Chowdhury, Asst. Professor of Clinical Psychology & Coordinator,

Youth WellnessHUB, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health

Tama Dey, Clinical Psychologist, Youth Wellness HUB, LGB Regional Institute of
Mental Health

This session started with a story where the speaker conveys an experiment to connect
with new people, go to new places. The story is based on the Youth Wellness Hub,
Tezpur. The clip starts playing on the screen. The journey of the HUB from Nov
2018 to Oct 2019 was inspiring. The clip showed a detailed tour of the Hub and the
various spaces depicting youth wellbeing. The goals of the HUB are also awe-
inspiring. It also shows the steps they have taken, like informal group discussions.
Promoting hobbies, making posters, creating safe spaces for distressed youths, chat
over chai, yuva- mann- meet yuva alap, open mic, wall art, in house training
programs, reconnecting youth with nature programs,,yuva – dhwani. The whole
group was commendable to develop such innovative ideas that can help the youth
wellness to a great level.

Going on with the session, the speakers ask the audience to suggest any new idea or
give their views on the youth wellness program. The Hub is a safe place where
anyone young can come and talk and do other activities. There is no appointment or
ticket system to avail this. The audience admits that going to the Hub helps to know
themselves and each other better, and they discover each other’s feelings and talents.
The people who do not have any problems can also explore ideas about life with new
people. The give and take policy of ideas and peace is essential.

The speaker says about the importance of having a safe space, as it is entirely
different than going to a hospital during physical pain. Emotional pain and stress need
to be expressed. People from the hub also go to colleges and meet them to know
those students also had a wish for a safe space to talk. The speaker talks about the idea
behind the Hub as well as the various difficulties that they faced while building it.

51
They tried to conduct a one-month program, where they asked the actual problem
today’s youth is facing, why they do not talk it out, and the actual situation that gave
rise to their problems. The motive was to take a road of wellness rather than taking a
road of illness.

After the one-month programme, they start to plan for a static place to go and talk.
That was the start of the HUB. They started to have meetings in order to discuss
further courses of action. In the Assam science festival, they built an awareness
building and started creating mental space through various quizzes and games. They
wanted to show people and make them aware of the HUB. They used fun as a
medium to communicate, and taught people how to achieve it.

The audience wanted to know about the journey they had till yet, they admitted to
having small accomplishments, memories, problems. The motive was wellness, good
communication, expressing emotions, whether good or bad.

In 2019, they successfully conducted a festival about mental wellness. The speaker
shows a clip of the festival showcasing multiple ways of wellness.

In the Covid times, the group started doing activities through online media by
creating ideas like a human library. They have learned that people get appealed to by
diversified topics like music, games, quizzes, and it varies from person to person. So
they tried to make a menu card regarding all these multiple ideas.

Speaker starts an activity where lots of photographs would be shown, and the
audience has to choose one from them and answer two questions regarding the photo.
The photo should express how the audience is feeling right now about the three days
of the pursuit of wellness program. They also suggested discussing any ideas so far
with whom they have been connected and carrying forward. The written idea would
help them grow in the future and create additional safe spaces for more people. The
audience enthusiastically carried on with the activity and wrote their feelings and
ideas on the postcards carrying the photos. After finishing writing, they were asked to
tell why they chose that particular photo.

The audience admitted that now, they can relate to the efforts the HUB has put
forward in it. Moreover, the ideas they would be taking home with them are, focusing
on happiness, team coordination, relationship building. They also admitted that they
were strangers when they came, but now they have a special kind of relationship to
cherish forever. They have also admitted that the team has indeed navigated them
to a better place. Other people also shared their meaningful ideas and views about
life like love, hope, hard work, a helping friend, self-acceptance, peace in nature,
never giving up, mindfulness, self-motivation, adjust and survive in harsh conditions,
as well as they put forward suggestions for a better road.

52
Valedictory Session

The valedictory was attended by Pro Vice-Chancellor, Tezpur University, Prof. Dilip
Kumar Saikia as the Chief Guest. The participants shared their feedback regarding
the 3 day programme. Certificates were distributed to the participants by Prof. Saikia
and HOD, MCJ Dr. Joya Chakraborty. Workshop coordinator made the concluding
remarks.

Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor Dilip Kumar Saikia

He congratulated faculty members of Dept. of Mass Communication and LGBRIMH,

Tezpur, on successfully completing the workshop and all the resource persons for
conducting a workshop in a blended mode in such difficult times.

He lauded everyone for a well-thought workshop on a relevant topic. He believes that

youth are the nation's future and their mental well-being is equally essential. Physical
and mental well-being is essential to brace oneself to overcome hurdles in life. The
satisfaction and happiness after overcoming hurdles is something to be cherished.
The workshop included activities and deliverances to enrich the participants to face
future hurdles. He hoped that the workshop ended with happy memories for
everyone. He hopes that the collaborations will continue to happen on such relevant
topics related to well-being of youth in the future.

Feedback from the Participants

 Background of the Participants: 35 students from 11 different institutions of

Assam participated in the workshop. It included students at the higher secondary,
graduation, post-graduation and PhD levels in various streams - science, arts,
commerce, agriculture and engineering.

 Internet Connection Problems Faced by the Participants – Participants were all

physically present at the workshop venue. However, some of the resource persons
were online and some amount network issues were faced during some of the
sessions. This was identified as one of the weaknesses of the programme by the
participants.

 Effectiveness of the Online Program – The programme was conducted in blended

mode. During the sessions where resource persons were online, there were on-site
resource persons to facilitate the process. The participants found the programme
to be quite engaging and effective.

 Clarification of Queries by the Participants during the Program: The queries of

the participants were attended to and adequately addressed by the resource
persons.

53
 Perception about the Resource Persons: The participants found the resource
persons to be very knowledgeable, resourceful, creative and committed. The
general opinion was found to be either very good or excellent.

 Views about the Online Mode of the Program – Participants were fine with the
programme being done in blended mode. But it was visible that they preferred it
more when on-site resource persons were present.

 Views about Duration of the Program – Most of the participants felt that the
duration of the programme was just right. Few also said that it could be slightly
shorter.

 Views about Attending Similar Program in Future – Participants were

enthusiastic about attending more such programmes in the future and requested
us to keep them informed about upcoming events.

 Views about Sharing of Information about the Program with Others – Most of
them said that they would be happy to reach out to others and share about the
programme.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The programme was very well received by the participants. We believe that the
workshop has been successful in increasing the awareness and sensitivity of the youth
participants regarding mental health problems of young people, given them greater
ability to identify early signs of distress and made them more open to the idea of
seeking help. It has also enabled them to create network other young people and
mental health professionals should they need help or wish to provide mental health
support to their peers. Overall it has led to the enhancement of understanding about
the importanceof maintaining self and community wellbeing.

Given the overwhelming response this programme has received we would

recommend that more such workshops should be held on communicating and
destigmatizing mental health. Such programmes should also have the scope to
accommodate adolescents at the school level. It is recommended that customized
training modules be developed for adolescents, youth and also educators within the
institutions so as to facilitate the creation of an enabling environment where young
people can openly converse about issues of wellbeing, support their peers and
enhance their own wellness.

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 ANNEXURE 1 – PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Pursuit of Wellness
A 3-day workshop on Mental and Emotional Health for
Youth

Organized by

Department of Mass Communication & Journalism,

Tezpur UniversityIn collaboration with
LGB Regional Institute of Mental
Health, Tezpur

With support from

Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development,

Sriperumbudur

Inaugural Session I 06.01.2021 I 9.45 am

Time Programme Speaker

Prof. Joya Chakraborty

Welcome address Head, Dept. of Mass Communication and
9.45 am to Journalism, Tezpur University
Address by Special Prof. Sonia P. Deuri
11.00 am Invitee Head, Dept. of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB
RegionalInstitute of Mental Health
Address by Guest of Prof. S.K. Deuri
Honour Director, LGB Regional Institute of Mental
Health
Prof. Vinod Kumar Jain,
Inaugural Address Vice-Chancellor, Tezpur University
Prof. Sibnath Deb
Address by Chief Guest Director, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of
Youth Development
Keynote Address Dr. Nanda Kishore Kannuri
India’s National Youth Additional Professor, Indian Institute of
Policy and the Sustainable Public Health
Development Goals

Dr. Anjuman Borah

Vote of Thanks Workshop Coordinator
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mass
Communication and Journalism, Tezpur
University

55
 Days 1st half (10am -
1pm)
Time Title of Program Resource Persons Time
9 am to Participant registration 2 pm to
9.45 am 3.20 pm
9.45 am to Inaugural program & Keynote Nanda
Day -1 (06.01.2021)

11.00 am address-1: Youth engagement for Kishore Kannuri L

sustainable development and
wellbeing: Some imperatives for U
an effective policy.
11.00 to Tea N 3.20 pm to
11.40 am Break 3.40 pm
11.40 am Keynote address-2: Promoting Jai Ranjan Ram C 3.40 pm
to 1 pm mental health of Youth: Crossroads to 5 pm
and roadmaps H
10 am to Inviting wellbeing in new modes of Anindita L 2pm to 3-20
11-20 am learning: Managing challenges & Bhattachar pm
Day- 2 (07.01.2021)

discovering opportunities to grow as ya U

an online learner
11-20 to 11- Tea Break N 3-20 pm to
40am 3-40 pm
11-40am Relationship and intimacy in virtual Suvarna Joshi C 3-40 to 5pm
to 1 pm and real spaces & Sobhana
H H
10 am to Turning stress upside down: A Rajeev J Michael L 2pm to
11-20 am strength focused approach to 3:30pm
Day-3 (08.01.2021)

stress management U
11-20 to 11- Tea 3-30 pm to
40am Break N 4-30 pm

C
11-40 am Mindful Photography Nitin Das 4-30 pm
to 1 pm H to 5 pm

56
 Valedictory Session I 08.01.2021 I 3.30 pm

Time Programme Speaker

Dr. Anjuman Borah

Remarks from the Asst. Professor, Dept. of Mass
3.30 pm to Coordinator Communication and Journalism, Tezpur
University
4.30 pm Feedback from Participants

Remarks from Resource Dr. Diptarup Choudhury

Persons Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology
& Coordinator, Youth Wellness HUB,
LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health
and Ms. Tama Dey
Clinical Psychologist, Youth Wellness HUB,
LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health
Address by Special Invitee Prof. Vasanthi Rajendran
Director, Centre for Training, Orientation and
Capacity Building, Rajiv Gandhi National
Institute of Youth
Development
Prof. T.R.A. Devakumar
Address by Guest of Registrar, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of
Honour Youth Development
Prof. Dilip Kr. Saikia
Address by Chief Guest Pro Vice-Chancellor, Tezpur University
Distribution of
Certificates
High Tea

57
 ANNEXURE II: PROFILES OF THE
RESOURCE PERSONS

Dr. Nanda Kishore Kannuri,

Additional Professor, Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad.

Nanda Kishore Kannuri is an anthropologist by

training and inspired by the philosophy of pragmatism
and the methods of ethnography to conduct research on
contemporary social issues. He is concerned with
attempts by persons and societies to secure well-being in
the context of contradictions and uncertainties.

Dr. Jai Ranjan Ram

Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital,
Kolkata Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Indian
Institute of Cerebral Palsy and Institute of Child Health,
Kolkata

Jai Ranjan Ram wanted to be a travelling chef but

chose a far less interesting career of medicine instead.
However, as a psychiatrist with special interest in
children and young people, he gets to relive the dreams
and aspirations of young minds and feels blessed that he
has, in his own very small way, enabled some troubled
minds to gain freedom and blossom. He co-founded
Mental Health Foundation,
Kolkata ([Link]). He is a firm believer
in improving access to mental health care and believes that is only possible if
there is increased access to high quality training program for frontline
community workers.

Dr. Angshuman Kalita

Assistant Professor (Dept. Of
Psychiatry) LGBRIMH Tezpur MBBS,
MD in Psychiatry (GMCH)

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Dr. Diptarup Chowdhury
Assistant Professor (Dept. Of Clinical Psychology) LGBRIMH Tezpur

Diptarup Chowdhury is a Clinical Psychologist by

training. He has been working for over 15 years as an
academician and a mental health professional. He is
currently a faculty-consultant in LGBRIMH, Tezpur,
Assam. Besides his primary role as an Assistant
Professor of Clinical Psychology, he also co-ordinates
multiple initiatives at his department such as, the
psychotherapy and counselling training program, tele-
counselling service and the Youth Wellness Hub - a
centre for mental health promotion for the youth.

Ms. Tama Dey

Research Scholar, (Dept. Of Clinical Psychology) LGBRIMH Tezpur

Tama Dey has done masters in Psychology and MPhil

in Clinical Psychology. She is currently working in the
mental health field primarily with children, adolescent
and young adults. She is equally inclined in working
with people who are experiencing mental health issues
and also with people who are looking for wellness in
their life. She personally looks for wellness in her life
by pursuing her love for travel and photography.

Dr. Anindita Bhattacharya

Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
Anindita Bhattacharya has been teaching Psychology at
Azim Premji University (APU) for the last seven years
and was also coordinating the activities of the mental
health and well-being centre (MindSpace) at the School of
Arts and Sciences, APU. She is a licensed clinical
psychologist and has been working in this field for almost
eleven years now. She received her doctoral degree in
Clinical Psychology from NIMHANS, Bangalore. Her
interest areas include promotion and prevention of mental
health, youth development, intentional self- development,
and personal growth processes in youth.

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Dr. Suvarna Joshi
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Mumbai

Being moved by human suffering and inspired by people’s stories of

transformation, Suvarna Joshi has found her calling in psychotherapy. She is a
clinical Psychologist
and practising independently with specialization in Couples and
Family Therapy and also in Mindfulness based psychotherapy.
She is a passionate therapist working with individuals, couples
and families for more than 10 years. Dr. Suvarna has served as
an assistant professor at Tata Institute Social Sciences
(Mumbai Campus) and at INHS Asvini Hospital, Mumbai
where she has taught and provided supervision for post graduate
clinical psychologists in training.

Dr. Sobhana H
Associate Professor of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional Institute of Mental
Health

Sobhana H is a social work professional, academician and trained couple/family

therapist. She has over 16 years of experience in
academic/clinical teaching, training and research
supervision of post graduate students of social work and M
Phil/Ph D trainees in Psychiatric Social Work; offering
therapeutic services for persons with emotional problems
or mental disorders and their families; couples with
relationship issues; work with communities to promote
awareness on mental health. She is now working as an
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatric
Social Work, LGBRIMH, Tezpur, Assam for the past10
years.

Mr. Raviraj Shetty

Senior trainer & Occupational therapist, Ummeed
Child Development Centre

Raviraj Shetty is co-founder of Narrative Practices

India and a therapist who believes that all the
problems of this world are rooted in the structural
systems of oppression rather than in communities
or peoples bodies and identities.

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His work is informed by Narrative practices,
sensory integration, accountability practices, queer
writings, children's books, his mother’s cooking
practices and his communities’ ways of living. He
consults with communities, children, families,
adults and organisations to discover and re-author
their preferred ways of being. He is a teacher of
Narrative practices and Early childhood
development; and teaches in local and
international workshops and diplomas. He supports
the work of therapists and community health
workers through supervision andconsultation.

Ms. Jehanzeb Baldiwala

Head, Mental Health Division, Ummeed Child
Development Centre

Jehanzeb Baldiwala has aligned herself with

narrative ways of working over the past twenty years.
She is a voracious reader and believes in dreams and
magic. She loves to travel and to connect with people.
She is co founder of a collective called narrative
practices India and director of mental health services
at Ummeed Child Development Center. Her work
includes consulting with persons, families, children in
responding to a range of issues that include anxiety,
depression, school related issues etc in addition to
training and supervising mental health work. She has developed several long and
shorter training programs in narrative practices along with a team of committed
narrative practitioners and her mentors Shona Russell, Maggie Carey and Peggy
Sax. She has a keen interest in exploring the use of narrative ideas in diverse
contexts.

Dr Rajeev Michael
Clinical Psychologist, [Link] & Ph.D (NIMHANS)

Fr. Rajeev Michael is currently a consultant clinical

psychologist at St Joseph's Hospital, Manjummel, Kochi and
Guest Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Rajagiri
College of Social Sciences, Kochi. In psychotherapy, his areas
of expertise include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy,
Mindfulness Based and Experiential Therapies, Third Wave
Therapies, Family and Couple Therapy, EMDR and Trauma
therapy, and Parenting Management Therapy. His passions are
creating music and facilitating personal change.

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Mr. Nitin Das
Film-maker and Environmentalist, Delhi NCR

Nitin Das is a wandering filmmaker. He tells stories of

uncommon people and extraordinary places. He is
currently working on a project called Healing Forest. The
idea uses mindfulness and creativity to bring forests and
people closer to each other.

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