Importance of Mental Well-Being

Mental well-being beyond the mere absence of mental disorders is often overlooked. An individual's mental health is reflected in the thoughts they think, the emotions they feel, and the behaviors they exhibit. Children, adolescents, and young adults are frequently exposed to a plethora of stressors, such as those in their family or school environment, stressors related to mental, emotional, and physical changes, relationship issues, sexual identity, and bullying to name a few. Experiencing stress and manifesting behaviors that reflect mental turmoil is not uncommon or abnormal in itself. However, if the state of mental stress persists for a long time and is left unaddressed, it can result in psychological or psychiatric disturbances and disorders in the future, often well into adulthood. In fact, 50-75% of adult mental illnesses begin during childhood, before the age of 18 years. Hence, it is crucial to equip young populations with the psychosocial competence to cope healthily with the inevitable challenges of life. It is also important to acknowledge the factors that may cause stress to the young and to make them feel heard and supported in their time of crisis.

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Preventive Mental Healthcare

As the mental patterns established during developmental years influence the lifelong mental well-being of an individual, MBC is focused on "Primordial Prevention" in mental health. This means that even before the risks for poor mental health emerge, we use tools such as life skills education, to empower the youth with the skills to cope effectively with the stresses of everyday life. This also includes equipping them with the knowledge about when and where to seek support.

 

Life Skills and Their Strategic Role in Preventive Mental Healthcare

Life Skills form the basis of our intervention programs. Life Skills are defined by the World Health Organization as "Abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”. WHO defines 10 life skills which can be categorised as follows: 

 

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Integrating Community Mental Well-Being with Medical Education

Another population that MBC feels strongly about is Medical Students, who form a unique subset of the youth population. MBC routinely engages medical students in its activities. Since the medical field in India is highly competitive and academic in nature, the students often experience exceptional stress during their time in training. While foundational reforms are being made in the Indian medical education system, it will understandably take time to alter the very fabric of traditional evaluation in the country. The system continues to remain largely focused on evaluations that are based on information recall. It largely overlooks the wide-range of cognitive and non-cognitive strengths of students, leaving them with scarce opportunities to explore their self-worth and potential to create a positive impact beyond classrooms. Many students end up graduating from medical school with a broken spirit and diminished self-esteem. MBC steps in here, providing a platform for medical students to recognize their self-worth regardless of external validation and marks in exams. MBC helps them build on their strengths, while also overcoming their weaknesses. Leveraging the strategic community access of 80,000+ medical students enrolled annually in Indian medical colleges, MBC aims to utilize their potential to reach the 300 million+ adolescents in India. By training medical students as life skills trainers for the adolescent populations, MBC aims to help these young minds discover their self-worth while helping others realize their own.​