India is the fastest growing market for any and every product you can find on the Earth. Why? Because we are 1.3 billion consumers base. Are you taking pride in it? There is a dark side to this so-called pride, warns Mahima, in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.
Globally, India is probably best known for having the fastest growing market in the. But there is a dark side to it. Cultural shifts and pressure from the corporate world is fast pushing India to become the most depressed nation in the world. If we are getting the best from the world and are amongst the top in the world consuming it up all, then why this depression?
Atop this, take a look at these figures: as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (presented to the Lok Sabha in December 2015), India has intensively rising mental health cases with only 3,800 psychiatrists, 898 clinical psychologist and 1,500 psychiatric nurses across the entire nation.
Here are some facts and figures on how being the top consumer of the world is leading us to a degraded mental health!
The 90’s brought in the computer culture and the 21st century brought in smartphones leading us to the digital world where a wish is just a finger touch away. Indian is fast moving towards development and increasing its GDP as well. But then the same lifestyle where we are glued to the computer, smartphone to learn, to earn is affecting the mental health of not just India, but of the people, the world over.
- Work Hard, Party Harder: No, Never
Radhika Iyer’s husband is undergoing psychiatric treatment in Chennai. Radhika informs that Raman is an IT professional at the manager-level, who used to work hard and enjoy harder. “Doctors informed us that since the times he took up the big-buck job, his life had become faster, he was slogging – which means he was working late hours, eating unhealthy, attending official parties and was sleeping at abrupt hours. It was his scheduled life to run the house and ensure one holiday at foreign locales for the family. The doctors said this is where it all went wrong. He should have had a balanced lifestyle and not heard to the advice ‘work hard, party harder and that’s how you do well in life.’ He is under mental therapies now plus medication,” repented Radhika, though she tried her best to convince Raman that his health was more important. But he would show her bi-annual clinical blood tests reports saying he is fine. That’s where it went wrong because in India we don’t bother about mental health!
- Overdoing Consumerism is Leading to Stress
Another case is that of overdoing consumerism. “Oh, she bought an iPhone! I too must have it at the soonest.” And how? By slogging or by pressurising parents who will slog to buy that INR 50K piece of plastic and electronic circuits. So if you don’t buy it, you are in a depression. And if you buy it, your parents are stressed. A simple example of how we are ruining our mental health.
Hangout at malls and buy whatever comes at hand. “Starbucks has opened in my city, Kolkata, I must go there!” This is just overdoing consumerism, which invites the need to earn more, spend more and then get yourself intro stress on how to maintain this newly-set lifestyle.
- Time to Party: Killing your Pocket and Brain
Consider these situations:
“My son got an A on his first exam! Time to party, come over.”
“Hey, boss awarded me that project. Let’s party tonight.”
“Wow! You are pregnant. Let’s celebrate.”
We often celebrate but at the cost of what. Not just money. But how to get this money. Again, the party culture, the idea of work hard, party harder, is pushing us all into stress. Moreover, it is leading others into depression – the others who either can’t afford the time or money or both to adapt to this culture.
Dr. Shama Khan Pauline, a leading Psychiatrist from Canada says, “Most of the time, the cause of stress and depression is in our own hands. But because people don’t take mental health seriously, it is too late before they come to us.”
While in the developed nations, the problem of plenty is the cause of depression. But, in a developing country like India, the economic status of the country as well as the overpopulation, leading to a lack of resources, is also the cause of poor mental health. For instance, swanky TV, costly computers, latest gadgets, cars, are pushing us into an unending the rat race. It is driving us towards greater mobility, which demands to work away from home, living a city-life far away from the family – resulting in loneliness!
Or perhaps because we are driven by the primary culture of ‘what will others (read people) say’, which in turn-drives us to continuously work hard, spend harder. A hard-hitting and a bitter truth.
This precious life is yours. The mental health is yours. And the choice is yours. So what is your next move? Do tweet us @DifferentTruths
©Mahima Sharma
Photos from the Internet
#Party #Spending #WorkHard #Overspending #MentalHealth #Commercialisation #FlameOnIce #DifferentTruths
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