Amity University Mumbai organized a one-day seminar on mental health on Thursday, September 7, 2023. The primary objective of this program was to delve into the topic of mental distress and its relationship to suicide while promoting help-seeking behaviors and emotional well-being.
The seminar was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. A. W. Santhosh Kumar. Renowned psychiatrist and professor of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NIMHANS in Bangalore, Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, and Madhuri Tambe, a counselling psychologist and program associate at the iCALL Psychological Helpline at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, were the keynote speakers at the event.
During the inaugural session, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. A. W. Santosh Kumar highlighted the pivotal role of mental well-being in contemporary life.
Dr Madhuri Tambe sensitized students to mental health issues and stressed the importance of recognizing the early stages of mental distress. She emphasized the significance of identifying these early warning signs, as they enable individuals to diagnose their problems and seek expert psychological help.
In his address, Dr. Shekhar Sheshadri placed special emphasis on the multifaceted aspects of psychological distress and its potential links to depression and suicide, especially among adolescents. Dr. Gautam Gawali, Director of the Amity Institute of Behavior and Applied Science, shared his vision for such programs, emphasizing their central purpose: to provide unwavering psychological support to students and nurture their mental well-being.