Media Release
Kundapur, Oct 9: World Mental Health Day was organized at Don Bosco Senior Secondary School, Trasi by the ‘Club of Life’ of the Department of Wellness here recently. An expert from the field, Nagaraja Murthy, Psychologist, Dr AV Balliga Memorial Hospital, Udupi addressed the gathering in two sessions.
The first session for students from 6th to 8th was regarding the general notion of mental health, the changes in early teenage that can influence mental health of children, and mental health hygiene. The second session for the students of grades 9 to 11 comprised of the orientation of mental health and various behavioral addictions.
The experienced speaker enlightened the participants about the current issues related to various forms of online addictions, especially online gaming and internet gambling with real-life case studies. He discussed the strategies to manage the screen time for self and control oneself from being the victim of various online platform addictions.
The session was successful with the active participation of teachers, students, the members of club, and the support of Fr Leo Periera, Rector and Administrator. The Principal, Fr Maxim D’Souza addressed the participants and gave a thought-provoking conclusion to the awareness program.
The student members of the ‘Club of Life Workshop’ shared information through posters, activities and seminar. They also organized self-introspection-related activities for the students from secondary and senior secondary sections. The domestic staff of the school were also engaged in activities to bring awareness of mental health.
It may be noted that the surge in mental health concerns among students after the resumption of offline classes at school, is one of the after effects of the pandemic that needs to be addressed at every school.
The mental health experts are predicting that ‘Mental Health problems among school children will be manifold in next few years’. There is no health without mental health. Thus, marking the importance of mental health, every year October 10 is observed as ‘Mental Health Day’.
The month of October is considered as ‘Mental Health Awareness Month’. The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and World Health Organization (WHO) host events to spread awareness on importance of mental health with different themes each year. The theme for this year released by WFMH is, 'Mental health in an unequal world' with the slogan by WHO, 'Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality'.