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This is a hard time for mental health activists, advocates and user-survivors. So much muck's flying around that it feels like decades of hard work to build a mental health movement has come undone.
But it hasn't.
A
to remind ourselves we have plenty to take heart from.+
But it hasn't.
A
to remind ourselves we have plenty to take heart from.+
Not long ago, India got @mhca2017, with the revolutionary promise of making mental healthcare accessible to every Indian.
Despite big execution challenges, "the world should watch, listen and learn," said the British Journal of Psychiatry
+ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/right-to-mental-healthcare-india-moves-forward/A0410D8527F38E78FCDE6AA231CFA2EC
Despite big execution challenges, "the world should watch, listen and learn," said the British Journal of Psychiatry
+ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/right-to-mental-healthcare-india-moves-forward/A0410D8527F38E78FCDE6AA231CFA2EC
Just last year, @CareGapIndia made history by getting mental health in the manifesto of not one but *two* national political parties.
In a country where health in general has never been seen as an election issue, this was *huge*. + https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/how-a-guerrilla-campaign-made-history-by-pushing-mental-health-into-the-congress-and-cpi-ms-election-manifestos/articleshow/68722530.cms
In a country where health in general has never been seen as an election issue, this was *huge*
. + https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/how-a-guerrilla-campaign-made-history-by-pushing-mental-health-into-the-congress-and-cpi-ms-election-manifestos/articleshow/68722530.cms
In another first, @Atmiyatamh demonstrated to the world that a volunteer-led, community-driven approach to mental health can work wonders.
Resilient communitiies are the future of the mental health movement, and India is leading the charge.+ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5210275/
Resilient communitiies are the future of the mental health movement, and India is leading the charge.
+ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5210275/
Therapists broke their tradional neutrality and came out in support of those who were on the front lines against #CAA_NRC and the violence at Jamia.
This was a necessary and welcome shift, given so much of our angst today is political in nature. + https://thecorrespondent.com/193/indias-protesting-students-have-found-an-unlikely-ally-therapists/25550126668-8e117e07
This was a necessary and welcome shift, given so much of our angst today is political in nature.
+ https://thecorrespondent.com/193/indias-protesting-students-have-found-an-unlikely-ally-therapists/25550126668-8e117e07
India now has multiple grants available for journalists who want to investigate mental health. +
+
. @mariwalahealth has been relentlessly championing and funding neglected mental health causes. This year, it got mental health messaging into Snap! + https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/snapchat-rolls-out-here-for-you-in-india-puts-the-spotlight-on-mental-health-71594655982985.html
+ https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/snapchat-rolls-out-here-for-you-in-india-puts-the-spotlight-on-mental-health-71594655982985.html
Deapite the cringeworthy stuff on TV, we are actually getting *better* at talking about suicide. And it could help save thousands of lives. + https://thecorrespondent.com/578/were-getting-better-at-talking-about-suicides-heres-how-that-could-save-lives/76517995928-f838c1bc
+ https://thecorrespondent.com/578/were-getting-better-at-talking-about-suicides-heres-how-that-could-save-lives/76517995928-f838c1bc
And finally:
Thanks to pressure from @netshrink
@MajiHailemariam et al, Lancet Psychiatry announced that global mental health needs to be reinvented, with greater space for voices from the global south! This has the potential to be a tidal shift!+ https://twitter.com/toymango/status/1289501185108348928?s=19
Thanks to pressure from @netshrink
@MajiHailemariam et al, Lancet Psychiatry announced that global mental health needs to be reinvented, with greater space for voices from the global south! This has the potential to be a tidal shift!
+ https://twitter.com/toymango/status/1289501185108348928?s=19
There's so much more happening:
. @PattieGonsalves is leading India's first mental health museum: Mann Mela.
With @CMHLPIndia, we're conducting regular workshops to train journalists on suicide reporting.
Community pressure got Practo to delist 'conversion therapists'.+
. @PattieGonsalves is leading India's first mental health museum: Mann Mela.
With @CMHLPIndia, we're conducting regular workshops to train journalists on suicide reporting.
Community pressure got Practo to delist 'conversion therapists'.
+
So yes, this isn't an easy fight. But the mental health community has repeatedly proven that we are made of sterner stuff. When things looked hopeless, we hunkered down and pushed back. And we will do it again.
More power to us!
<Fin>
More power to us!
<Fin>
PS: Earlier this year, I had the honor of meeting Ratnaboli Ray - Ratna Di - whose @AnjaliMHR has been fighting for the most marginalized since a time when mental health wasn't 'fashionable'.
Sample Anjali's brilliant new 'graphic medicine':
https://twitter.com/drsitu/status/1285583006686539777?s=19
Sample Anjali's brilliant new 'graphic medicine':
https://twitter.com/drsitu/status/1285583006686539777?s=19
Thanks everyone for amplifying this thread. Please do share liberally. This is a tiny list. There are so many more stalwarts doing incredible work quietly in the background. We are here to stay 
