Playing mind games for the greater good

Mumbai outfit brings mental health awareness to public though outdoors outreach programme

A Mumbai organisation called Astitva Clinic, spread mental health awareness amongst the public, by conducting an outdoors outreach programme on Wednesday morning. Even the rain could not dampen the spirit of the volunteers who fanned out in different directions, some at Bandra Carter Road, others at Marine Drive and yet others at Dadar and Matunga.

By encouraging them to participate, Astitva’s livewires brought about clarity in mental health concepts through specially designed games and interaction. 

The Astitva Clinic, which has its brick ‘n’ mortar outpost at Matunga, was founded by Anagha Afreddy, senior special educator; Heta Shah, clinical psychologist and counsellor and Vishakha Punjani, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. 

A local is encouraged to try a game

Afreddy was at the salubrious Five Gardens, Dadar-Wadala on Wednesday morning, highlighting different aspects of mental health. The upside about taking to the roads to talk about mental health and break stereotypes was that the Astitva volunteers could access people from across the social spectrum.

From early morning walkers and residents of the upscale Dadar Parsi Colony at Five Gardens, to sweepers and vegetable vendors, they connected with people from across all demographics. “It is important not to put mental health in an elite bracket. That is why we talk to everyone who we see and try to engage. Here, access is key,” said Afreddy.

Game on

The volunteers stationed at Five Gardens played a unique game with the participating public. “We busted a few myths with our pick-a-card game. On each card, there were statements. One said counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists were the same. Is that a fact? Several citizens said yes, they are the same, but in fact they are not. We explained the difference to them,” said volunteers Vrushali J, Mahima S, Revati S and Nidhi S.

The Astitva outfit had other games — Dost Online, Bust the Myths, Catch the Ball, ‘What would you do,’ an Emotion Board and a ‘Squid Game’ tweaked on the popular Netflix game, all tailored towards mental health. In the Emotion Board game, one could roll the dice and it would fall on an emotion or feeling like jealousy, perhaps. The participant needed to explain what they thought jealousy was, and give an example.

Moving

Stand out moments were when the volunteers brought two girls, both collegians, daughters of a vegetable vendor and asked them to play a game where they had to express emotions. In another moving moment, a sweeper, cleaning up the Garden, was asked to participate. The senior sweeper regaled all, with a speech illustrated by actions. Afreddy said, “These people may need mental health professionals as much as those from well-heeled families. Unfortunately, their problems are often not recognised as such.”

The stigma

Astitva clinic professionals were on the ground for a good part of the morning, moving across the areas. They stated that with the mind in focus during the Coronavirus period, “We are seeing that stigma around mental health persists, it is a battle to erode that. All the talk about the pandemic exacerbating mental problems is very true. There was an uptick in outreach, with many people communicating with us online. Families living together for 24 hours was very challenging. You had three generations at home, from small children to the oldest in the same space. Earning members suddenly found themselves without a job, upping anxiety and impacting esteem.”

As the morning wore on, one witnessed several people talking and acceding to play mental health games. The Astitva Clinic representatives plan to continue their activity on Thursday, because the vital part of removing stigma is becoming visible and demonstrating to people they need not be wary about asking questions or taking that first tentative step towards tackling problems of the mind.

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