RONO HILLS, 24 Sep: A two-day workshop on ‘Mental health and wellbeing’, designed to support both Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) students and educators in cultivating a culture of wellbeing, concluded here at RGU on Tuesday.
It was organised as part of the project ‘Mapping and exploration of mental health status of students and teachers of RGU’.
Addressing the inaugural session, RGU Vice-Chancellor Professor Saket Kushwaha explained the idea of mental health mapping of students and how to create a platform for increasing mental health awareness.
RGU Registrar Dr NT Rikam underscored the need to “inculcate the mental health concept and its basics into the curriculum for a formal dissemination of talks to undo the prevailing stigma, myths and taboo in society and strive on the paths of true progress as mankind.”
Expressions India senior psychiatrist Prof Jitendra Nagpal narrated the fundamentals and nuances of mental health and overall wellbeing through theoretical and practical demonstrations.
RGU’s Psychology Department Assistant Professor Dr Dharmeshwari Lourembam presented a brief on the significance of the programme.
The first day of the programme dealt with strategies for fostering resilience and self-care among students.
Around 600 first-semester students from all departments of the university participated in it.
On the second day, Tezpur (Assam)-based Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health’s (LGBRIMH) psychiatrist, Dr Diptadhi Mukherjee, delivered a talk on the topic ‘Indicators to look for mental health concerns among young adults’, during the first technical session. It was followed by the second session, wherein LGBRIMH clinical psychologist Dr Priyadarshee Abhishek delivered a talk on the topic ‘Mental health and learning disabilities: Some common measures that can be used by teachers at the university level’.
The third technical session focused on ‘Mental health prevention and promotion among young adults: Role of paraprofessionals and non-clinicians’, delivered by Assam-base Nalbari Medical College psychiatrist Dr Bikram Sutradhar.
Midpu-based state mental hospital’s clinical psychologist Nabam Yeni delivered a talk in the final session on the topic ‘Teachers’ role in help-seeking behaviour of students’.
