Poddar Foundation conducts workshops across Maharashtra as part of Mental Health Awareness week

As part of the Mental Health Awareness week, Poddar Foundation conducted workshops across rural and semi-urban parts of Maharashtra, bringing people from all walks of life — children, young adults and women together, to talk about issues affecting their well-being. The workshops were conducted in Karjat, Panvel, Malad and Matunga,where hundreds of individuals discussed body shaming as a significant issue impacting one’s self-esteem and mental health.

Activities such as role play and ‘Walk the Ramp’ were initiated to instil a sense of confidence in women and children. Anganwadis, Samaj Mandirs and community schools opened their doors to welcome this change in perspective increasing their awareness and helping them understand the consequences of a ‘perceived’ negative body image.

“The social challenges to mental health such as negative body image to reach a majority of people in India living in the rural and semi-urban areas. Body shaming is not just an urban phenomenon, it impacts most of us, on a daily basis. Negative self-image and low self-esteem have a significant impact on the mental health of an individual. At Poddar Foundation, we are taking these issues to the masses and enabling people from all strata of the society to confront and tackle these problems,” says Dr Prakriti Poddar, Managing Trustee, Poddar Foundation.

Poddar Foundation also collaborated with Yuvak Biradari to facilitate a workshop on Mental Health Awareness focussing on stress management in Nashik as a part of a six day campaign. It involved interactive activities and skits aimed at identifying and understanding stressors and implementing solutions for problems. Adolescents who participated in this workshop were enriched with the understanding of controlling irrational thoughts.