A thread: Few days back, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal wrote about ‘How to battle depression’. Piggy backing on SSR’s death, he spoke like a true boomer chacha who is detatched from reality.

(In pic - his article, some of my meds which ACTUALLY help me battle depression) [1/16]

Typical boomer, Ramesh ji blames depression on ‘modern lifestyles’, an umbrella term for the refusal of the people of his generation to look beyond their own experiences. ‘Finding meaning in life’ is pointless if you don’t acknowledge the actual causes of depression [2/16]

We 'modern lifestyle people’ have ’never ending aspirations’ because activists/freelancers like me have to aspire 18% more just to pay GST. Our aspirations are linked to survival needs, made all the more difficult by the legacy of your generation [3/16]

We are not a ‘generation looking for instant gratification’. We struggle to achieve some semblance of success in a capitalist neoliberal world created by you. Rules are different for us, playing field is smaller. Job postings commonly listing ‘ability to work under stress’ [4/16]

Most boomers are shitty managers who continue to run companies as CEO/COO. They're literally incapable of accepting criticism. Yes, ’stress, if not handled well, can push human beings into depression’. I wonder where this ’stress’ in our professional life comes from... [5/16]

..companies that genuinely care for employee’s mental health must fire incompetent managers n hire more people to share workload, NOT organize yoga sessions. How else are we supposed to find ‘meaning in work’ if job conditions also include limiters like sexual harassment? [6/16]

Ramesh ji says that we are bridging gender inequalities (huh?) and there’s an ‘increase in employment of women’. As HRD Minister, it is shocking he doesn’t know female labour force participation is DECLINING in India. Read Namita Bhandare’s work, if not ILO reports. Please [7/16]

‘...bridging of gender inequalities, ‘increase in employment of women...’ leads to ‘an underlying strain on the socio-cultural fabric’ which ‘push human beings into depression. So gender equality causes depression? In men uncomfortable with women working on par with them? [8/16]

Apart from some feel-good bullshit about Tagore, our Minister also talks about ‘The Art of Living’. Problem of depression is political in nature and fuelled by the existing conditions in our society. So now we are solving societal inequalities through Art of Living? [9/16]

Ramesh ji talks about ‘uncertainty' because of ‘various factors’. No. Govt policies and (in)action is a HUGE reason for uncertainty. The recent migrant crisis is an excellent example. Labourers definitely had major ‘uncertainty’ about returning home, food and shelter [10/16]

He blames 'fear of the unknown’. BJP IT Cell thrives on ‘fear of unknown’. Social media is cesspool of Hindutva bile. As @prateekshawarma said, 'IT cell head posting about mental health awareness is like tobacco companies discussing advances in lung cancer treatments’ [11/16]

The most damaging of all statements made by Ramesh ji, is that we must support friends and relatives going through depression to ‘find meaning' in our own lives. Supporting your near and dear ones is about THEM, and not about how YOU find meaning while helping them [12/16]

Please don't misuse Tagore’s words to say families are antidotes to depression. Togetherness DOES NOT prevent depression. Families are MAJOR reasons of depression. They love us conditionally as long as we live our life their way, because god forbid ‘log kya kahenge’ [13/16]

You can't ‘end the misery of anxiety, depression and stress’ through ‘positive and continuous communication’. We need adequate budgets, proper policies, infrastructure that supports mental health practitioners who are MEDICALLY qualified to treat clinical depression [14/16]

Therapists either struggle themselves with pro-bono sessions or charge fees which most of our ‘modern generation' can’t afford. My medicines are 4k monthly. I paid for my cousin’s ‘secret’ therapy sessions because her parents didn’t agree with her need (she’s a student) [15/16]

If you cannot solve political socio-economic conditions that create depression, don’t mock us with token opeds that put the onus back on individuals to ‘find meaning in life through love and work and being socially connected’. Ugh. Why/How are you a minister for HRD? [16/16]