World Mental Health Day: The spaces in Thiruvananthapuram that provide mental health support and guidance

At a clip erstwhile stigma and fearfulness of judgement travel successful the mode of seeking intelligence wellness care, Thiruvananthapuram has a big of spaces that connection enactment and guidance to navigate the situation.

The Orange Room

Sherin Noordheen had reasons capable to commencement Let’s Live, a younker intelligence wellness NGO, successful 2018 – the termination of her begetter and her battles with slump and a full batch of idiosyncratic issues. “Most radical effort termination not due to the fact that they privation to die, it’s conscionable due to the fact that they don’t person the spot to live,” she believes. A twelvemonth later, she opened The Orange Room, a “non-judgemental space” for young radical to unfastened up astir intelligence health-related issues. But the pandemic forced the abstraction to adjacent down. However, connected June 2 this year, The Orange Room was reopened with CSR enactment of Speridian Technologies.

“This is simply a abstraction for radical to unburden their problems earlier qualified professionals. We besides person play intelligence wellness consciousness programmes for the public,” says Sherin, a postgraduate from kanthari, the acquisition and grooming institute successful Thiruvananthapuram, and a erstwhile IT professional.

A breakout programme of The Orange Room is Unfiltered, a intelligence wellness consciousness mini-series for colleges launched successful July with the enactment of the District Administration. “Most colleges don’t privation to sermon intelligence wellness due to the fact that their precedence is academics and exams. Thanks to the District Administration we could scope retired to the campuses,” she says.

Sub-collector Alfred OV is the nodal serviceman of Unfiltered that has been rolled retired successful 5 colleges — Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, National College, LBS Institute of Technology for Women and MG College. It volition beryllium launched successful 5 much colleges.

Unfiltered, which has 2 seasons, encourages students to person unfastened conversations astir intelligence health. Season 1 has 4 episodes of which 1 is for the teachers. Season 2 volition beryllium astir trauma-related intelligence wellness care.

Mental wellness champions, students who person an aptitude for the cause, are selected from each assemblage and are trained successful beingness skills and intelligence wellness astatine The Orange Room. “They are made proficient capable to assistance others oregon they enactment arsenic span betwixt students and the solution provider,” she says.

Sherin notes portion narration issues apical the database of problems they be to, they besides woody with cases involving substance abuse, unsupportive family, intersexual orientation, online grooming, intersexual extortion etc. The abstraction is for those aged beneath 29. Those beneath 18 person to beryllium accompanied by parent/guardian.

Orange Room is located adjacent Nanthancode. Contact: 0471-4068177, 8078944613 (@the_orange_room_tvm). An inter-college Mental Health Champions Debate volition beryllium held connected October 10 astatine Muffin Bakes, Pattom, from 10am.

Kappiness

It was implicit 2 years agone that 3 friends, Prabin PB, Sneha Padayan and Jickson Punnoose, who person a inheritance successful societal work, opened Kappiness, a one-of-its-kind intelligence wellness café and therapeutic centre. It is an inaugural of NADI Foundation, an NGO started by Prabin successful 2021. “NADI has been focussing connected tribal education, intelligence wellness and assemblage development. Kappiness was conceptualised arsenic a abstraction to supply online and offline enactment for intelligence wellness issues successful an situation that is not a infirmary oregon clinic. Those who locomotion successful tin interact with experts arsenic if they are catching up with friends. That’s wherefore we named it Kappiness, which combines kappi oregon java with happiness. The logo besides blends these aspects,” says Prabin.

Kappiness dwells connected 2 aspects – consciousness and service. “Among the consciousness programmes is the monthly screening of movies that woody with intelligence disorders followed by discussions connected it led by an expert. Then we person sheet discussions oregon speech shows and therapeutic workshops involving dance, art, pottery etc. We besides behaviour intelligence wellness aesculapian camps, particularly successful colleges, which see unfastened mic, experience-sharing sessions, music, dance, intelligence assessments, movie screening wherever they person to decode a quality etc. At the extremity of the sessions we inquire participants to recollect a traumatic experience, constitute it connected a portion of insubstantial and deposit successful the trauma container truthful that they fto spell of that incident.”

Kappiness besides has offline (on weekends) and online therapy sessions led by qualified doctors. “For the offline sessions, we person 4 curated spaces astatine Kappiness — sharing space, plot oasis, plot retreat and mud location and clients tin take the abstraction they prefer. They tin stock their problems with experts implicit a cupful of coffee,” helium says. There is simply a euphony country arsenic well. “We person designed Kappiness successful specified a mode that conscionable being determination should marque the clients consciousness good,” helium adds.

Kappiness volition soon unfastened branches astatine Kazhakoottam and Kochi. Appointments are by booking only.

It is located adjacent Carmel School, Vazhuthacaud. Contact: 9656191761 (@kappi_ness)

Navem

Where creation meets wellness and intelligence health. That is however Krishnendu BS defines Navem, her inaugural that uses Expressive Art Therapy, particularly Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), ‘for idiosyncratic growth, affectional well-being and transformation’. Even though it has been 7 years since she opened the space, it is successful the caller years that much radical person travel to cognize of it. The 31-year-old holds a diploma successful DMT from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “I learnt classical creation till Class 10 and restarted it by learning kathak portion pursuing my undergraduation. That was a turning constituent since it became an outlet for my pent up emotions and idiosyncratic issues. It made maine assured and resilient. When I did the DMT course, I besides became comfy successful my body. I realised however beauteous it is to person a abstraction wherever I tin explicit my emotions without being judged by anyone. I wanted specified a abstraction successful Thiruvananthapuram and that led to Navem,” she says.

Navem is coined from the letters successful the Malayalam words nadi (river), veru (root) and maram (tree). “Through DMT, I realised however escaped it is to creation for yourself,” she says. Explaining the therapy, she says, “It is not conscionable stress, maltreatment oregon trauma that impact our body; each emotion creates an impact. This psychotherapeutic attack is astir connecting the caput and assemblage done movements.”

Navem conducts workshops and training, mostly for tiny groups, with radical having akin concerns enactment successful the aforesaid group. “Some request assistance with choler management; immoderate privation to bushed loneliness. The groups conscionable erstwhile a week and too dance, they enslaved implicit art, drama, originative penning etc. It doesn’t substance whether you tin dance, gully oregon write. This is simply a non-judgemental space.” She besides holds classes for bigger groups extracurricular of Navem and works with each property groups, with sessions tailored for individuals and groups.

“We often get radical referred by doctors for idiosyncratic oregon radical sessions.”

Navem is located adjacent CET, Sreekariyam. Contact: 7736064346 (@navem_dmt_kerala)