Mpower's World Suicide Prevention Day campaign urges to Say It Right

Mpower of the Aditya Birla Education Trust launched a World Suicide Prevention Day campaign titled, Say It Right encouraging every person to LISTEN and save lives.

Issued in Public Interest, the #SayItRight World Suicide Prevention Day campaign draws attention to a serious concern in society presently – suicide prevention. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide is one of the leading causes of death among young adults globally. As per the 2015 NCRB data, over one lakh people on an average committed suicide every year in India between 2004 and 2014. And according to a 2012 Lancet report, India has one of the world's highest suicide rates for people aged 15 to 29.

The theme for World Suicide Prevention Day 2018 is ‘’Working together to prevent suicide’’ and Mpower’s #SayItRight campaign kicked-off with a short film where a teenage girl going through a mental health crisis. In the film it is shown how her family, and peers are ashamed of her which leads her to feel isolated. Given the stigma associated with mental health in India, she feels isolated. For over 2 years Mpower, has worked to ensure no individual feels neglected and has the accessibility to mental health care services required.

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Speaking on the launch of this campaign, Mrs. Neerja Birla, Chairperson and Co-founder, Mpower, said, “Nobody should feel ashamed to seek for help. It is ok not to be ok, but it is not ok to not seek help. We’ve come a long way and work tirelessly to ensure mental health isn’t a luxury but a necessity that most individuals fail to understand. At Mpower we strongly believe in stamping out stigma by increasing awareness, promoting acceptance, and concurrently working towards bridging the large treatment gap prevalent in India. Through this campaign we hope to reinforce the fact that most concerns are treatable, just like any other medical condition.”

The #SayItRight campaign will be present through the month of September across social media and digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The campaign invites everyone to take the pledge to be available to listen to other people and assist them in seeking help.

Mpower aims to help create a society where people with mental health concerns and their caregivers receive professional support, care and acceptance to facilitate their recovery, without facing discrimination or shame.

Through the Mpower Center and Mpower Foundation, this unique mental health movement hopes to bring about a change in the public perception of people coping with mental health concerns, and facilitate recovery without facing discrimination or shame, whilst simultaneously bringing change to policy and public life.

Mpower does this by creating awareness and alleviating stigma; advocating prevention, fostering education, and providing world-class holistic services, interventions and treatments by well-trained and renowned medical and health practitioners, so that they may lead meaningful and productive lives with respect and dignity.