Dr John Mohan Razu
Tendency of Homo sapiens is to give priority to the body and leave the mind uncared. But the then scenario has drastically been changed as Homo sapiens are increasingly being pushed to taking care of the mind which is indispensable and inexorable for the overall wellness. Increasingly there are many researches that emphasize on the importance of mind for the overall wellbeing of human beings for the self as well as society. The story of those whose mental illness we read, hear and come across shows its severity pushes us take it more seriously.
Metal illness is a phenomenon wherein thousands and millions keep getting affected and has reached to alarming heights and certainly will have serious implications to the wellbeing of the entire world. It is bewildering that those who have perfect body – fitting who we think and assume that they should also be mentally well-off suffered and suffer in their mental domains. Paris-2024 has furthered unfolded the growing fiasco of ‘mental illness’ to the world at large. Though the curtain of Paris-2024 Olympics came down, but analysis about the performance of the athletes especially Indian athletes keep coming to the fore for intense scrutiny.
This time the social media had shown deep into especially over the performance of the athletes by leveraging exaggerated details by adding unwanted materials. For instance, India’s Avinash Sable, who represented the country in the 3000-m steeplechase at Paris, recently highlighted social media abuse as having a big impact on athletes’ well-being. To reach the pinnacle whatever may be the discipline of any sports/games warrants high-level performance for which athletes requires considerable mental frame and fortitude. Since then, mental wellness has gained and thus gathered momentum especially in sports.
To be precise, mental illness as an issue came to light rather to prominence in 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when the Afro-American champion gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of multiple events citing a case of ‘twisties’ – a temporary loss of spatial awareness. For Paris-2024, a psychiatrist and a sports psychologist accompanied the Indian Olympic contingent for the first time. The equations and some of the assumptions have changed drastically within the sports arena. It is not just about the performance, more than performance it is keeping the well-being of mental health of those who competes in highest levels—whatever may be the discipline.
2020-Tokyo Olympics has changed all kinds of myths and equations by emphasizing that for overall well-being mental well-being is indeed a priority and a pre-requisite. By showing or pointing to top-level performers in varied disciplines even those who excel and well-training and perfectly maintained bodies fail thoroughly if their mental well-being is not alright. Adding more weightage to the importance of mental wellbeing, Viktor Axelsen, the badminton gold medalist at Paris became emotional and said, “If men cannot cry, what kind of world do we live-in?”
We have constructed binaries and stereotypes that demarcate how a man and a woman should behave based on —dos and don’ts. Trolling by social media won’t end and will continue intensely and gravely in the coming days. Social media will without any discrimination and also selectively will troll everyone including athletes impacting the cyber-chatter. Australia’s female break-dancer Rachael Gunn was the target of internet mockery over her Paris Olympics performance, which she had the resolve and resistance to strongly defend.
Paradoxically many fall into web of traps or gradation of traps that the social media employs. For instance, English cricketer Jonathan Trott stepped away from the game over mental health problem. Another former English batsman Graham Thorpe recently took away his own life after struggling with depression. Depression seems to be affecting quite a number of people across the world. Depression is defined as “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in things and activities you once enjoyed. It can also cause difficulty with thinking memory, eating and sleeping.”
Elaborating further, “It’s normal to feel sad about or grieve over difficult life situations, such as losing your job or a divorce. But depression is different as it persists practically every day for at least two weeks and involves other symptoms than sadness alone.” And so, “Without treatment, depression can get worse and last longer. In severe cases, it can lead to self-harm or death by suicide. The good news is that treatments can be very effective in improving symptoms.”
There’s nothing to fear about as there are ways and means to overcome depression. As Simone Biles said at the time of Tokyo Olympics in 2020 that “I have to do what’s right for me and focus on my mental health … not jeopardize my health and well-being. That’s why I decided to take a step back.” It serves as a cautionary note to all of us to take care of our mental health for overall well-being. The equation goes in this way: Mind+Body+Soul=wholeness/wellness.
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