The School of Tribal Heritage and Tribal Indology (THTI), KISS Deemed to be University organized an international webinar on ‘Mental Health among Tribes: Awareness, Prevention and Intervention Strategies’ on 10th September 2022, on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day. The event aimed at creating awareness of mental health among the masses.
Delivering the webinar lecture, Professor Angel Bondoc Masanda, Professor, National University, Philippines said that good life skills practices and overcoming stigmas can lead to better management of mental health and check increasing incidents of suicide in the population. Informing that the suicide rate was four times more in males than females, he suggested various intervention strategies and prevention practices to check the trend. He also discussed the mental health status and the suicide rate in the tribal community.
Suicides among tribes are less compared to non-tribes, as they believe in simple living and are closely connected to nature, Professor Deepak Kumar Behera, Vice Chancellor, KISS-DU stated. Dr. Prashanta Kumar Routray, Registrar mentioned stress as one of the major reasons for committing suicide among the youth. The youth should be educated and encouraged to practice Life Skills, he added.
The deliberations were summed up by Professor Emerita, Professor Namita Mohanty. Citing statistics on mental health, she said that mental disorder is one of the major factors for suicides among youth. She discussed the importance of helpline numbers provided by the Government and suggested wellness and counselling centers in every organization. Dr. Madhubrata Mishra, Assistant Professor, Home Science initiated the question and answer session.
Among others, Dr. Manoj Kumar Behera, Dean, School of THTI, KISS-DU; Dr. Sujata Acharya, Principal, KISS and Dr. Neha Jha, Assistant Professor, Psychology Programme also spoke on the occasion.