Give your mind a chance to zone out

Narayani Ganesh

AS a young girl, I knew the words ‘tired’ and ‘stressed’, but had never heard them used in my family or circle of friends. The first time I heard my sister’s father-in-law ask her when she returned home from work, ‘Are you tired?’, I wondered if she were ill. Why should she feel tired? I asked her, and she just shushed me with a shy smile. I then realised that this was her new family’s way of expressing concern and affection for their daughter-in-law.

I knew if I had said to my mother that I was tired, she would have glared at me and ordered me to finish my homework. No affectionate cluck-clucking here, so one had no option but to do as told. When did we, as a species, begin articulating words that expressed fatigue, exhaustion, tiredness, stress and boredom? I suspect the trend came much later to India, when it was already very current in the Western world.

Nowadays, mental health has exploded into a major issue across age groups and demographics. Again, the wave that began in the West has now begun to engulf South Asian and East Asian countries, where traditionally, a whack on the bottom would resolve any show of mental disequilibrium. I don’t intend to trivialise serious mental health challenges that are sometimes clinical and at other times psychological, and even weather-related, and these do need to be treated by experts. The question is: are we getting carried away by the mental health bandwagon by lumping any minor challenge as a mental health issue, finding that to be a convenient excuse to justify almost any omission and/or commission?

The stigma attached to the act of going to a psychiatrist or therapist is on the wane, which is a very good thing, as it encourages us to come out with our worries and problems, airing them out, instead of suppressing them and suffering alone. Yet, one cannot help wondering if some of these issues could untangle themselves just by talking to friends and family, or even by taking a break from one’s mundane routine and from working long hours. Sometimes, what one needs is a breath of fresh air, a wider angle that puts things in perspective.

Just as the body tends to feel tired after a lot of strain, the mind also gets overwhelmed with too much mental activity and therefore needs to be given space, some ‘me time’ — basically, to zone out and get rejuvenated. Listening to soothing music, doing something different, practising meditation and regular deep breathing exercises could all contribute to centring both mind and body. If day-to-day mental challenges can be resolved with simple home remedies and exercises, that would free up space for the truly serious mental health patients to get properly treated and cared for. The danger lies in taking too far the wonderful thought: ‘It’s OK to not be OK’. Part of the answer lies not in suffering in silence but in sharing your thoughts and fears with people you are close to. And if you think you need to consult a professional, do go for it.