Throwing light on the darker side of life

TGLife

Anxiety, stress or depression is rising not only in Goa or India but on the global scale and these sometimes reflect in the suicidal tendencies seen among all age groups. Anxiety and depression does lead to mental health issues and these need to be taken care at the right time. There’s growing need to recognise these symptoms and treat them before they take serious form. The people who suffer any kind of mental illness need help in the form of intervention, guidance and counselling and if need be, medication.   

Taking note of this serious issue that has engulfed the society, Sangath, an NGO that has been working in the field of mental health research in Goa for 22 years, has joined hands with Trimiti Trust of Pune to create awareness on mental health through entertainment and films. Sangath and Trimiti will be jointly organising ‘Mindscope-2018’ - the 3rd Mental Health Film Festival (MMHFF) in Panaji on December 16. The theme of the one-day, film festival is ‘Caring for Caregivers’ and the festival will focus on the caregivers, who play a pivotal role in contributing to the rehabilitation and recovery of patients.   

A non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation based in Goa, Sangath is committed to improving health across the life span through task-sharing by empowering existing community with skills to provide interventions with support. Apart from working in Goa for more than two decades, Sangath is also working in Delhi and Bhopal for the last one decade and trying to give back our expertise in the field of mental health to the world. “There’s lack of awareness on mental health in many states and we are trying to disseminate the knowledge gathered over years of research and field work, to public. Commemorating days like mental health day, world health day, world disability day etc, we try to introduce the subject to people and as entertainment is the most powerful medium to make an impact on people’s minds, we have brought this film festival to you,” states Dr Fredric Azariah, project manager at Sangath.   

Trimiti Trust, on the other hand, is a Pune based non-governmental organisation working in the field of mental health. Its primary focus is holistic reintegration of people with mental illnesses back into the society.   

“Creating awareness on mental health is one of our key activities. Entertainment is a powerful medium of education with a mass appeal. We are therefore hosting the, ‘no fare, open to all’ MindScope Mental Health Film Fest (MMHFF) in Goa since September 2016. Our choice of films is such that they are engaging and entertaining, cinematic yet authentic in their portrayal of the mental health problems,” states Prachi Khandeparkar, programme director, Sangath.   

There would be spot registrations before the festival begins at 9.30 am and continues until 2 pm. MMHFF 2018 will feature a full-length 90-minute feature film –A light beneath their feet and five short films - No Letting Go, The Widow, The Absent Carer, Aarohan, Three of Us. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion. The panel will comprise of eminent film personality and psychiatrist Dr Mohan Agashe, Sangath founder Prof Vikram Patel and actress, singer and television host Madhurani Prabhulkar along with eminent psychiatrists from Goa. The second session will have patients speaking about the importance of carers in their lives and how their own problems were eased when caregivers intervened and helped.   

Madhurani - who has acted as carer in a 15-minute Marathi film, ‘Aarohan’ directed by Nitish Patankar to be screened at MMHFF 2018 - will speak on the film and her role as a caregiver as also on how it helped her to deal with most other life situations.   

Supported by the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) and the Psychiatric Society of Goa (GPS), the film festival’s hospitality partner is Estrela do Mar.   

role of Sangath   

n Does one-to-one interactions with people to strengthen the already available infrastructure in dealing with mental health in Goa   

n Aims to cover the entire spectrum of population, especially schools, in North as well as South Goa in 3-4 years   

n Works with government primary health centres in training their staff to deal with mental health issues of visiting OPD patients   

n Utilises the facilities of primary health centres in Goa to provide counselling and guidance   

n Trains lay people to monitor, supervise and deliver the required services of dealing with mental health   

n Community consultancy training to the existing staff from government health department   

(The 3rd MindScope Mental Health Film Festival 2018, on ‘Caring for Caregivers’ will be held on December 16 between 9 am to 2 pm at Macquinez Palace, Auditorium 1, Panaji with free entry to all on first cum first serve basis)