Counselling session on mental health for students held in Kohima

DIMAPUR — A counselling session on mental health was organised by the Carl Rogers Mental Health and Research Centre for B.Sc. 4th-semester students of Kohima Science College on April 20 at Campus Christian Fellowship (CCF) Church.

The seminar aimed to raise awareness about the importance of mental well-being and provide coping strategies for stress management.

According to an update, speaking on the occasion, Kezhazolie Cornelius Mere, co-founder and chairman of the centre, stated that about 90% of the world’s population suffers from mental health issues but refuses to seek help from experts. When considered in the Indian context, the same percentage can be taken into account.

Mere talked about various types of stress, such as acute stress, behavioural stress, PTSD, and many more. He added that, according to researchers, Generation Z has the highest percentage of stressed individuals compared to former generations.

“A problem we have to be aware of. Indeed, technological advancements have paved the way for many positive aspects; however, at the same time, they have also affected this younger generation of individuals greatly, hampering their ability to cope with stress,” he said, adding that self-talk is very important.

He said that since time immemorial, men have suppressed their emotions, and statistically speaking, this suppression has led men to make more suicide attempts than women. However, he maintained that in the modern era, the ratio of women’s inability to cope with stress is increasing drastically.

Later, Mere, along with Anupam Talwar Kohli, held a short session where students were instructed to write a series of questions regarding mental health on a piece of paper and submit them so that their queries could be addressed and discussed.

Kohli gave a simple demonstration on how an individual can relieve themselves from stress, suggesting to breathe in from the nose, hold the breath for three seconds, and exhale from the mouth.

During the question and answer session, Mere stated that the most severe mental issue, in his opinion, is when an individual reaches a point where they no longer wish to continue living and contemplate taking their own lives. He highlighted that in India, until recent years, suicide was legally deemed a criminal act. However, there has been a realisation that suicidal ideation stems from mental illness, indicating a need for support.

Meanwhile, when Kohli was asked about her take on self-diagnosis, she stated that it is critical to a person’s life and not healthy at all, yet most tend to diagnose themselves through Google searches. According to her, people may relate to just one symptom of, say, depression and convince themselves that they are depressed. Later on, even symptoms that don’t exist in their lives will slowly start to manifest, leading to an unhealthy situation.