I moderated a panel discussion on February 7, 2021 on a very relevant and burning topic. It was based on the book by Anita Peter “To Win Your Battles, Stay Alive” (Being There Matters) - on how she dealt with depression and came out of it and how, if she can, anyone can.
So apart from author Anita Peter (a Mohiniatam dancer, runs a dance school, is a biker who travelled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on her bike, a TEDx speaker, a leadership coach, teacher, actor-director), we had, Vijay Lokapally, one of India’s seniormost and highly respected journalists, Gayathri Sreedharan, an applied anthropologist who manages her own boutique firm Anthropie, Anand S Narayan, a Counselling Psychologist who has volunteered for 20 years with Roshni, an NGO that offers a helpline for the distressed, depressed and suicidal, counselling services and emotional support for those psychiatric issues and Dr Siddharth Reddy, an MD in Psychiatry, a consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist. A highly accomplished panel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7reJBIURJvE&feature=youtu.be
The discussion centred around why Anita wrote this book, the purpose, how Vijay and Gayathri dealt with their mind disturbances and coped, how counselling and medical avenues are available and can help. It was a highly energetic and honest conversation with everyone sharing their thoughts honestly about how mind disturbances and mental illnesses can be cured, what to do, what to watch out for and how to go about it.
The discussion was focussed on bringing out the need for more conversations and Anita spoke about how she had the idea of starting focus groups to help take the initiative forward. The discussion is on YouTube for those who wish to see. It was wonderful moderating the session and much thanks is owed to Anita, Vijay, Gayathri, Anand and Dr Siddharth.
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