Newsletter (January-March 2022)
Dear Friends,
“Some of the most comforting words in the universe are ‘me too.’ That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.” – Unknown / The Mindsjournal
India continues to feel the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The available mental-health infrastructure has exacerbated and generated new challenges. In India mental health resources are scarce, with limited mental health professionals. They are largely located in tertiary care hospitals based in urban sectors. At the district levels, generally there may be only one qualified psychiatrist, while many districts may have no trained psychiatrists at all.
SERIES OF WORKSHOPS:
Sisters Living Works (SLW) conducts workshops on Suicide Prevention and Mental Health awareness. It encourages help seeking behavior and experiential sharing; providing a safe space to share stories, experiences and thoughts. Suicide Prevention workshops educate participants about suicide myths, warning signs, and the role of a first responder. It equips the participant to act as a first responder to someone in a suicide crisis.Mental health workshops discusses issues such as depression, anxiety and how to deal with the problem of negative self-talk and overthinking. SLW also demonstrates some grounding exercises to deal with anxiety.
Organizations SLW associated with:
-S.L. Raheja College
-AIESEC-NIT Trichy
-Kotak Foundation
-Udayan Shalini Fellowship
-Bhartiya Andhshradha Samiti
-Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce and many more.
COUNSELOR’S TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND EDUCATORS
SLW‘s latest batch was conducted in February’22. An extensive 16 hours of training equipped participants to undertake suicide awareness and prevention, learned skills to deal with the aftermath of a suicide attempt or a suicide in an educational institution. The training was also aimed at helping suicide survivors and their families.
This moves us closer to our goal of building more inclusive and safe educational spaces for children, where help-seeking behavior is encouraged.
SPECIAL EVENTS- INSTAGRAM LIVE SLW initiated a series of live sessions with experts on Instagram:
1. Eating disorder and Suicide risk: Nidhi Sharma, Counselor and Psychologist, Life – Career Coach and Behavioral Facilitator discussed how eating disorders can be associated with suicide risk. We educated 60 individuals about eating disorders and clarified some common misconceptions with them. We also discussed various socio-cultural factors that reinforces maladaptive eating patterns. When these patterns are coupled with stressors and other psychological conditions, it can lead to eating disorders.
2. Impact of sleep on mental health: Suman Khanna, Psychotherapist and founder of MindUnwind discussed healthy sleeping habits and how it can manifest in a variety of mental health conditions like ADHD, Depression, Bipolar and Anxiety. 170 people benefited through this live session.
3. Bipolar Disorder and Suicide Risk : Komal Khandge, a psychologist spoke about certain characteristics of bipolar disorder that puts a person at risk of suicide. She emphasized co-morbid conditions like substance use disorder, which heightens the risk of suicide. We were able to reach 50 people through this live session.
SLW in News:
On the occasion of International Woman’s Day on 8th March, “Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce and Industry” organized a talk on Suicide Prevention. Ms. Meenakshi Nagwekar, Director, SLW was invited as a key panelist. It was conducted virtually and was attended by many renowned personalities and dignitaries from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Rajasthan:
1. Dr. L.K Jain (Hony Secretary-General RCCI)
2. Anubha Jain (Joint Secretary-RCCI, Journalist, Rotary president)
3. Dr. Prakash Bakshi (Former MD-Nabard)
4. Dinesh Jain (Sr. Director, VMware)
5. Vrinda Sharma (Rajasthan State Resource Person, UNICEF)
6. Piyush Sharma (Lawyer, Rajasthan High Court)
7. Girdhar Maheshwari (Director, Happy point Groups of School)
This was published in Dainik Bhor and many other local newspapers. Bangalore T.V News station also featured and recognized SLW on their local NEWS channel.
1.Workshops: 8th April and 16th April, 2022.
2.Counselor’s Training Program For School Counselors and Educators: 18th April-24th April, 2022.
3.First Responder Training: 29th and 30th April, 2022.
SLW is grateful to our stakeholders who have been supporting us by being a part of this incredible journey. Your contribution goes a long way in supporting our efforts. A donation of any amount will help us in impacting more lives. After all, one more aware person is one more life saved. All donations are gratefully accepted and can be sent to:
| Sisters Living Works is a 501(c)3 non profit organization in USA and 80G certified in India. Your donation to us is deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. |
| You can also donate through our website sisterslivingworks.org using our secure PayPal or Credit Card system. |
You can scan the QR code and donate to us through UPI in INDIA. Our details are as given below:
