Society

1. Understanding how trivialization of mental illness is limiting space for survivors to seek help
2. Ubiquity of awareness posts on social media turning illness into vogue
3. Drawing the line between empathizing with survivors and redefining their experiences
4. What is the alternative?

Outline

A day doesn’t go by when you don’t see a quote, post or an article on depression or anxiety. They all make sense, to an extent, more to some than others. It’s common sense that your degree of understanding of a mental illness would differ from the person standing next to you, though this knowledge is getting constantly diminished by the half-baked understanding of these issues, that goes around as one-liners. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and it truly is, if and when a person wanting to be heard, cannot share their story because theirs doesn’t fit the popular description.

Speaker bio

Working with tribal communities in rural Chhattisgarh. Have worked with women and adolescents on issues of health and livelihood across the country. A criminologist and a development professional.