Report: "Wellness of Mind-a necessity during COVID-19"

An enriching session on mental well-being was organized by Sankhya, Department of Mathematics, on 16th January 2022. The guest speaker was Dr. Meghna Thakur. She is an associate professor in the department of psychology of R.D. National College, Bandra. This ad-hoc session was organized with the motive to help students deal with their mental peace and remain calm and resilient in tough times. Education has suffered tremendously due to this pandemic and any peripheral support provided to the students to continue with their academics is one step towards its refurbishment.

There was an introductory speech delivered by Samriddhi at the commencement of the session. She narrated about mental health and its importance, ignorance towards it by most of the people, and the adverse effects of the pandemic on it. Then she addressed the speaker and added a few lines about her and her accomplishments. As soon as Dr. Thakur took the charge, she began to speak elaborately about mind, stress, and everything that causes harm to our well-being. She gave certain pointers for each topic that she explained. They are listed below:

Healthy ways to cope up with stress during covid -19

• Rebalance work and home

• Ensure regular exercise

• Connect with people

• Stay away from toxic people and the environment created by them

• Take a break if you are overwhelmed

• Sleep scheduled shouldn't be altered

Covid - 19 and mental health

• Don't alter your daily routine

• Wake up, do exercise and then follow your daily routine

• Don't get into a sick mode

Self-Care strategies

• Participate in regular physical activity

• Find an activity that includes movement

• Identify a new project

• Care for each other and help people

Avoid stigma and discrimination

• Seek help if you need it

• Covid helpline number (9152987820), contact during times of despair

The curious students in the audience asked her various questions on the related topic. Few questions were asked by Sheetal about how to handle frustration on which she suggested playing online games and reaching out to people. The vote of thanks was delivered by Ayushi, the vice president of the department. The session helped the students to find answers to many unanswered questions and gained wisdom on how to enhance their performance by just keeping their mental peace. The session ended on a happy and encouraging note.