3 min readNew DelhiJun 27, 2018 06:23 PM IST
First published on: Jun 27, 2018 at 06:00 PM IST
The Ministry of Health poster on dealing with depression. (Source: @MoHFW_INDIA)The Ministry of Health may have had the best intentions when it tweeted a poster on how to deal with depression, but mental health professionals are upset with some of the suggestions which include positive thinking, yoga and having multi-vitamins.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health tweeted a poster in which it said: “#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.”
The accompanying poster advised people to go for walks, follow a routine, do yoga, eat fruits, sleep for eight hours and even told people to ‘think positive’.
Mental health professionals and others were understandably upset over the poster. Here were some of the responses to the poster:
A Mumbai-based psychiatrist even tagged the Health Minister to draw his attention to the poster:
This isn’t the first time the Health Ministry has been slammed for a poster that it has tweeted. It had earlier tweeted a poster detailing the benefits of a healthy diet which had been slammed for body shaming.
What is depression?
The World Health Organisation on its website defines depression as a ‘common illness’ and says it is “different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to challenges in everyday life.”
“Especially when long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition. It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school and in the family. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide,” the website says.
The site says that depression is a result of “a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors”. The website says there are interrelationships between depression and physical health, and prevention programmes have been shown to reduce depression.
However, the advice to cope with depression does not include any of the measures suggested by the Indian health ministry.
You can read more about depression here.
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