Alwinrex: Please provide our readers some information about yourself
Joie Vijaya Monahan: Hai, I am Joie Vijaya Mohanan from Tamil Nadu, India, and I graduated in the Bachelors of Business Administration in 2013. I'm currently working as an Administrative assistant in Etisalat Telecommunications, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. I was born and raised in a small and conservative family. I was taught well about the value of humanity and nature. My parents always remind me that Humanity means love, care, honesty and forgiveness. When I was pursuing my bachelors degree, I had this thought of doing good for others and started working on myself to be a better person everyday.
Alwinrex: What is the main reason that you have an interest in mental health?
Joie Vijaya Monahan: People don't want to talk about it because of stigmas. People prefer to small talk and never dwell deep. It's hard for people to come out and talk about them being vulnerable due to the toxic stigmas that surround mental health. Here I want to say mental illness is like any other disease. If you don't address it and find a solution, it'll take a toll on your health.
Alwinrex: Can you tell us about the importance of mental health in this world?
Joie Vijaya Monahan: As you know mental illness has no prejudice. It affects people of every race, age, gender, religion and economic status. So it is not to be taken lightly. Mental illness affects 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers and 13% of children every year. People struggling with their mental health may be in your family or even living next door. As per reports, close to 0.8 million people die due to suicide every year. It means every 40 seconds someone loses their life to suicide. There are indications, that for each adult who died by suicide, there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide. Because only about half of the people in developed countries struggling with mental illness get the support which they require. While in developing countries like my country (India) 90% go without any form of treatment The stigma attached to mental illness is that it requires huge amount of money for medical expenses, lack of awareness and misunderstanding. So it is increasing the risk of suicide and disassociation of people from the society.
Alwinrex: What are the suggestions to tell our readers about mental health?
Joie Vijaya Monahan:: My suggestion is to spread even more public awareness about mental health. We should be teaching the upcoming generation more about empathy and sincerity. Indian education and education systems around the world should introduce mental health subjects. By creating a safe space for the younger generation, it'll be easier for them to seek help and share their burdens. Also we should write more about mental health in magazines and run campaigns in rural areas.
Alwinrex: Can you share the impact of the stress you experienced?
Joie Vijaya Monahan:: When I started my research through the internet and the knowledge of others about mental health disorder. I find out the unexpected result which, I had been diagnosed with Panic Disorder. No worries I perfectly alright, and the truth is writers are 121% more likely to suffer from bipolarity disorder than those working in uncreative field. I am also a Creative writer too.
Panic disorder means it’s a fear of darkness, animals, history(which means you made it in the past) or People. Here I am diagnosed by fear of people.
In my darkest times, I didn’t know why I was alive and I definitely didn’t like myself because I didn’t understand why I couldn’t find happiness. So I was withdrawn, disconnected and very angry. I didn’t know where it would end. There were stretches of time where I felt nothing but shame.
Alwinrex: If everyone understands the need for awareness of the importance of stress in every place where people work, can you give an example of what is special?
Joie Vijaya Monahan: A company runs better with employees that are in their happiest and productive mental state. Having a stressful environment introduces lethargy, procrastination and unsatisfied employees. All this will lead to lesser productivity and results for a company. An example of reducing stress is that the management is willing to help and support the worker, to start a sport club or other activities to encourage all the staffs to have a more healthy life and perform better.
Alwinrex: Thank you the interview which I know will be helpful to many.