Mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to his or her community. The key indicators of being mentally healthy include: ability to cope with normal stresses, ability to work productively, stable relationships, ability to contribute positively to the society. In deficiency of these key aspects, one is considered mentally unhealthy and support systems should be instituted to help them recover and lead healthy and productive lives. Poverty, genetic factors, and stress also contribute to mental illnesses. Social pressure has been an important trigger in most mental health cases especially depression where the society has a set of expectations on individuals and with the advent of social media certain captions by friends and colleagues may pile pressure on one not to be doing as well as they envisioned. These ultimately build on the pressure they put themselves to which derails them lowering productivity, affecting their relationships and ultimately, they spiral into depression. By being able to understand mental health, the drivers for poor mental health and how they manifest, we are able to contain the rising burden.

On 22nd June 2021, we were honoured to host distinguished guests and experts in the space who presented key insights on mental health in our society with nuggets of wisdom on ways of handling psychosocial distress, supporting mentally ill patients and fostering resilience.