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‘ Mental Hai Kya ’ changing title to ‘ Judgemental Hai Kya ’
Date: Friday, July 16, 2019 |
Tags: ART & CULTURE | Mental Health Matters | 4-minute read |
After hearing the pleas coming from the Indian Psychiatry Society, makers have changed the title of ‘Mental Hai Kya ’ to ‘Judgemental Hai Kya’.
The title violated many sections of the Mental Health Care Act 2017 and had it been passed the way it is, it would have been really detrimental to the larger cause of mental health awareness. This helps from stopping the stereotyping of these patients.
It needed this course correction — it needed society to understand the words ‘mental’, ‘psycho’, ‘paagal’, etc., can hurt real sufferers to an unimaginable extent and make them shy away from continuation of their treatment. It even impacts help-seeking behavioural patterns of these patients and hence, we are all the more grateful you took this bold step. It is so imperative when psychiatrists are on a war path, trying to normalise the discourse on mental health, that mass media helps them.
Dr Mrugesh Vaishnav, the president of Indian Psychiatry Society, left no stone unturned in his fight for the sufferers — and it was the collective effort of all the practitioners who lent their voice that led to the much needed change. He extends his gratitude for the proactive approach shown by the Gujarat High Court and, of course, the CBFC. As do I.
I’m thrilled to see our sensibilities evolve and the sensitivity shown by the CBFC in particular for real issues like this. There is no Karni Sena-like bullying involved here. Here, we are talking of real patients who are capable of being suicidal if their mental mayhem is not corrected. This is about saving lives and helping to strengthen them.
Popular culture is an influence. Creative freedom is imperative in a progressive society but any such expression needs to come with a sense of social responsibility, especially when rampant stigma already exists.
We don’t object to any subject or any extreme characterisation simply because that could well be a reality. Just that the resonance of this phrase getting popular would have hindered the treatment of patients who must gather together a lot of guts to even admit or accept that they need help.
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