The people who run the Ministry of Health Twitter handle have managed to land the ministry in hot water again. The Ministry of Health Twitter handle, which came under fire for associating good health with vegetarianism was it again with an insensitive post on depression.
The people who run the Ministry of Health Twitter handle have managed to land the ministry in hot water again. The Ministry of Health Twitter handle, which came under fire for associating good health with vegetarianism was at it again with an insensitive post on depression.
The Ministry of Health’s official Twitter handle wrote: “Depression is a state of low mood that affects a person's thought, behaviour, feeling & sense of well-being. One must take up activities that keep him or her boosted in order to cope with depression. #SwasthaBharat #MentalHealth #LetsTalk”
Mental health remains a taboo topic and the stigma attached to it is such that it stops people from seeking treatment. The MoH, in all its infinite wisdom, decided to tweet several ‘tips to beat depression’ which included these:
Follow a routine
Go for walks
Travel
Be Creative
Sleep for Minimum 8 hours
Stay clean
Practice yoga
Stay clean
Take multi-vitamins
On the other hand, it failed to mention the most important treatment about the ailment, that is seeking therapy or clinical help. It appears to treat depression as a normal mood swing as opposed to a mental health ailment. This is ironic because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last year encouraged people to speak up during his March Mann Ki Baat speech. This speech wasn’t unnoticed by the WHO and Dr Bekedam praised the prime minister. “The theme this year is 'Depression: Let’s Talk' and it brings forth an opportunity to focus attention on mental health issues, especially depression, which is the single largest contributor to global morbidity,” he said.
According to WHO, “Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. More than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015.”
Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that you normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for at least two weeks.
In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness; and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
Depression is treatable, with talking therapies or antidepressant medication or a combination of these.
Here's how Twitter reacted:
With inputs from WHO
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