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Talking openly about mental health is still a taboo in much of Indian society. This makes it even more imperative that we listen to what these Indian women who are mental health bloggers, have to tell us.
“Tu pagal hai kya?” “Why do you need a therapist? “What is wrong with your life?” “Why are you depressed, you have everything in life?” “Depression is such a first world problem” “I can’t afford to get depressed, my whole family will break!”
These are words we often come across we in our daily lives. Sometimes we ourselves are guilty of saying this to someone. But the question is, do we really know what it is to be depressed, the symptoms, causes and cures?
We often don’t deal with mental health as pragmatically as physical health. It could happen to anyone, and we must deal with it empathetically. But if we don’t know enough how do we empathize? It is a sensitive topic and needs a lot of correct information to understand and to deal with. This is where mental health bloggers help.
Since the awareness about and the demolishing of stereotypes on mental health began in the west, we have a lot of mental health bloggers from there who do illustrations, graphic art to display and demonstrate these issues, and a lot of innovative ways to bring forth information about mental health. But in India too, we have some very interesting mental health bloggers, who’ve put together information that suits our society’s fabric and more relevant to the people here.
Let’s take a look at some prolific mental health bloggers among Indian women – who are likely to understand the nuances of women’s issues more easily than men who are mental health bloggers.
Put That Cheese Burger Down
With a name that catchy, it is rare that you would pass on this blog. It’s a blog largely about health but covers a lot of ground in this space.
Blogger Neha Ghosh is well known, and her blog has been featured on a lot of websites as one of the topmost fitness blogs on the internet. But as one of India’s mental health bloggers, her mental health posts are underrated yet extremely resourceful and hands-on. Worth a read, especially given the blog has such a fresh vibe you want to put your chores down, and read every word here. Hop on to her blog, and connect with yourself better.
Sonali Gupta, Clinical Psychologist
You always listen to a doctor. It’s the gospel truth for us ignorant minds, and when it comes from an expert, one needs to listen. It’s commendable that Sonali, a clinical psychologist takes the effort to put the information on a blog for everyone to access.
Here’s the blog where she also has some videos to emphasize on certain issues which need more attention. The content is varied and covers a lot of range under mental health focusing a lot on parenting and children’s mental health. She also runs a YouTube channel.
Healing Hideaway
Imagine taking off into the minds, to clear your baggage and take a break from the chaos of the urban world.
Bindiya Murgai runs such an innovative endeavor with Healing Hideaway to give an opportunity to people seeking some sort of therapy. She designs these retreat programs usually at hill stations where nature plays a part in therapy. It’s a one-of-a kind concept and worth a try. But before that take a look at her blog that details various aspects of mental health and also reports on how the past retreat programs have helped people overcome mental health problems.
The Moving Quill
She is a long time blogger who has had a varied experience in her career as well as life. Her blog, The Moving Quill is a beautiful diary that she shares about her personal life.
Shailaja talks about various topics, mainly around personal growth and as a mental health blogger, also around mental wellness; nurturing oneself to add value via writing, reading, or perhaps just being, but enjoying and growing from strength to strength.
The Bioscoped Life
Arpita Nayak is a mental health blogger who writes about mental health in a way that covers a wide range of topics. The content on her blog is really hilarious, engaging and interesting, and it is a challenge to stop yourself from reading all of it in one a go. She mixes it up interestingly with graphic art and that is always the icing on the cake.
Arpita’s content is personal and mostly comes from her own experience. She shares a lot of her own tryst with self-esteem, bullying, depression. For a reader, when you read a first account of someone battling these acute conditions, it feels a lot more connected and satisfying to know you are not alone.
Love Health Family
Darshana is a buoyant philosopher, mom, an educationist pursuing a PhD, and above all a really happy positive person. Her blog is a journal to help one with stress, depression using meditation, healing and her content too is enough to make one feel positive again.
Positive Provocations
Zeenat Merchant-Syal is not only a happy person once you see her on the site, but also provides counselling along with it. Zeenat along with being a writer and a mental health blogger, is also a psychologist and counsellor, motivational speaker and a lot more than that.
Zeenat’s blog is a testament to her prolific qualifications. Her motivating posts help people to work on their self, improve their mental health, and just infuse a good positive energy; the blog is an extension to her work.
As The Mind Wanders
Have you tried achieving your goals and consequently greatness in your life using paper clips – the little things in our stationery box that hold papers together? Yes, I know that questions makes you curious and you want to know more. Well, I sure do, and that’s how I was introduced to Ashwini CN’s blog. It’s got some really interesting solutions and theories to understand stress and ways to overcome it using analogies.
Ashwini started modestly as a blogger just for the love of the written word. But today she is a TedX speaker. Her content is extremely inclusive about mental health, delving mostly around personal growth and dealing with stress. This is a must have on your favourites bar.
Silence is a Grockled Dope
As minimalist a blog this is; the content is really top notch. It is a personal account of Madhavi who has been dealing with a lot of things and takes the effort to document her tryst with anxiety. The interesting part of her blog is the titles and the hook that they create.
Her blog is an eclectic one and has a lot of personal account. Mostly in mental health, sharing is nurturing and strengthening for someone battling with anxiety, depression and overall mental health.
Mahevash Muses
Mahevash writes articles and poems on mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, BPD, and PTSD. She believes that mental health issues, while clinical, are impacted by culture and society too. Plus, she’s always believed that our world needs to evolve with the times and enable everyone to be authentic. So she also talks about sociocultural issues like toxic positivity, hustle culture, and feminism.
Owing to lived experience with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and othering, this millennial woman of color aims to destigmatize mental illness and encourage people to live life on their own terms. Her writing has been published in prominent websites like HuffPost, HealthyPlace, and Metro. In order to impart professional insight to her words, she is currently devoted to an online diploma in psychology.
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Since mental health is largely a misunderstood topic, it’s important to be aware and then infer. These phenomenal mental health bloggers really hold us by the hand and help us understand this topic, and perhaps give us a fresh perspective. Unfortunately, we have always believed that self-love is indulgent and is looked at as a vice, because it is perceived to make us selfish, and egoistic. Let’s change this outlook and make sure we start our day looking at the mirror with a voice that says “You matter first”.
Images source: Twitter, Facebook, individual blogs of these mental health bloggers
I am the quintessential ya-ya girl, but also the silent rebel. I love fiction, food and all things that are quirky. Always in search of fun conversations and meeting new people. Drop a word, read more...
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