May 14: Ashadeep, a city-based NGO, has collaborated with the Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust to organise a programme for college and Gauhati University students, aimed at dispelling notions on mental illness.

The programme comprises a competition regarding developing themes on communication tools for awareness on mental health. Participants will have to develop a communication tool of their choice on different topics relating to mental health.

The tool can be a mini-film of nearly 2-3 minutes, a poster, a still photograph or an audio-clip. The winners will be able to participate in a seven-day workshop that will take place at the Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio here.

One per cent of any population suffers from mental illness.

Mental illness can be treated like any other illness but very few people are aware of this.

While an individual with a physical ailment is rushed to the hospital, those manifesting even the slightest symptoms of any mental illness are shunned and deprived of treatment.

“The participants will have to send in their scripts, idea of a film, poster, still photograph or audio-clip regarding any issue on mental health to us. The best scripts and ideas will be developed into films, still photographs, posters and audio-clips. The winners will also be trained by filmmakers from Mumbai as well as the state on developing these tools,” said Anjana Goswami, the director of Ashadeep.

The organisers also held several symposiums on mental health in Cotton College, B. Borooah College, Handique Girls’ College, Pandu College, Northeast Frontier Railways College and Central IT Institute here since the first week of this month.

“During the interactions we have had so far with students here, we realised that many confused mental illness and disorders with mental retardation. The competition aims to dispel any wrong notion that they may have on issues concerning mental health. This will enable them to help any person with mental illness to seek medical intervention at the right moment,” said Antara Gupta, development officer, health communications of the Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust.

“We have received a positive response from these students. They were eager to acquire more knowledge about the topic. A few students even came forward to share their experiences of having suffered from some form of mental illness like depression and how they overcame it through expert help from a psychiatrist. The competition will further train them on how they can make use of communication tools to spread awareness about mental health among the public,” said Gupta.

The particular competition is also open to students from colleges in Jorhat and students from Dibrugarh University and Tezpur University.