Summary of Mental Health Awareness sessions held at Malerkotla on 21st and 22nd July 2022

adminpt

An awareness session on mental health was conducted with Govt School Teachers of District Malerkotla, Punjab. Deputy Commissioner office Malerkotla had invited Pushpanjali Trust to conduct such sessions with various departments in the district. Two teachers from each senior secondary school of Malerkotla district attended for the awareness session. Total 54 school teachers attended sessions on 21st and 22nd July in two batches under module I. After one-month the same teachers would turn up for module II. Following aspects were covered under module I:

  • District Education Officer Malerkotla started the session by introducing the speaker Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Psychiatric Social worker, Pushpanjali Trust Chandigarh. Session began with a pre-session survey form to assess their views and personal experiences about mental health in general. Feelings check exercise was introduced as an ice breaking technique for the teachers. They shared their views and the reason for being present in the session. Most of them were there to attend such a session for the very first time. PowerPoint presentation was used to conduct the session. For the first 15 minutes an interaction was held to share views about the relationship between physical health and mental health. Wellness and illness were also clarified. Maximum teachers were aware of only depression among the common mental health disorders (CMD). CMDs were explained one by one by giving suitable examples. Teachers shared symptoms that they had experienced or seen in others. Only a few were familiar with severe mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. A short film was played to make it clearer and easier to understand Schizophrenia.
  • Developmental disorders of Children were explained by using graphics. Teachers were able to identify some of the disorders. Symptoms were discussed in detail so teachers can get help to identify any of such students in their schools and can further seek professional help or educate parents. Teachers shared that usually parents refuse to accept that their child has a mental disability.
  • In the end some self-help tips were shared with the teachers as some of them have reported some stress. Ten minutes of mindfulness exercise was conducted and many of them felt relaxed. Teachers shared their views and showed good response towards this session. Before module II, teachers would conduct some activities on mental health in their respective schools. We suggested some reading material to teachers to know more about mental health. Thank you note was given by Ms. Gayatri from DC office Malerkotla.