Singer Usha Uthup and actress Parno Mittra will be among hundreds who will wear yellow on Thursday. The reason? They don’t want another life lost to suicide.
An NGO that provides telephone counselling to mentally distressed individuals has launched a campaign, Go Yellow Kolkata 2020, to spread awareness about mental health issues and to remove the stigma attached to suicide and depression.
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. Lifeline Foundation Kolkata is urging people to wear yellow on Thursday in support of the movement through various online platforms. “Wear yellow and show your support to the cause,” Usha said on Wednesday.
Shubhika Singh, a consultant psychologist and one of the trustees of Lifeline Foundation, said: “As a society, we have been conditioned to view emotions and mental health as a weakness. We need to collectively work to change it and sensitise each other towards normalising the conversation around mental well-being. No one should suffer in silence because of the fear of judgements and stigma.”
Parno spoke of her own “depression and anxiety for many years”.
“I am on medication for it. I want people to know it’s totally normal to have mental health issues. One must be open to treatment and we as a society need to change our attitude,” Mittra said.
Mittra and Uthup will join an online session on Thursday in support of the movement.
“We are all facing the emotional impact of Covid-19. If we as a society come together and start talking about mental health issues without any stigma, it becomes acceptable to the point of consideration and discussion,” said Suksham Singh of Lifeline Foundation.
