Dismissing mental illnesses as fads or worse, “just a phase”, inhumanely attaching stigma and prejudice that dissuade people from seeking professional help, and using inconsiderate language to further trivialise a mental disorder, conversations around mental health have, for decades, been had through an unempathetic lens. While stigma is difficult to eradicate overnight, today, mental health is progressively becoming a normal matter of discussion in everyday chatter.
According to a nationwide survey commissioned by Deepika Padukone’s mental health charitable organisation Live Love Laugh in 2021, 96 per cent of the respondents were aware of the concept of mental health as compared to 87 per cent in 2018—a sharp incline in just three years. Additionally, 65 per cent of the respondents reported acquiring knowledge about mental illnesses via social media. Friends posed as the second major source of mental health discovery—56 per cent of the respondents attributed their awareness to friends. Collectively, these statistics are indicative of a common conclusion: the acquaintance with mental illness is augmenting, with more conversations catering to the subject than ever before. So, what has caused this shift? The generational perception towards mental health. And, how did this change come about? We speak to psychologists to find out.