Overcoming her own fears, Mehzabin helps raise awareness on mental health across Mumbai

With SNEHA’s guidance, Mehzabin has already helped more than 20-30 people in certain slum communities

Mumbai: A recent report by IIT Jodhpur had revealed that self-reporting of mental health disorders in India was less than 1%. In 2017, National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) by NIMHANS highlighted that around 150 million individuals in India needed mental health treatment. As the COVID-19 pandemic having brought mental health related issues in focus, several Indians are now seeking counsel in order to tackle it.

In a similar manner, Mehzabin Shezada Salim Shaikh, a resident in the Mankhurd slum community had to face her own fears. Mehzabin had done her schooling in Navi Mumbai and worked with an NGO for children before getting married. She then shifted to Mumbai along with her husband and family. While she was tackling the daily hurdles in her life, her troubles began when the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns across the country. “I had become very anxious during this period. While all the news and stories we were hearing made us more aware about the virus, it also caused lot of anxiety for me. It became so severe that I had to take medications. I felt like I was losing control over myself and lost confidence,” Mehzabin said.

The lockdown also triggered an old tragic memory for Mehzabin. “16 years ago, my elder sister had a son. He was the first child in the family and was very cute. But at the age of 1.5 years, he suddenly died and this happened while he was in my hands. He was 10 kgs and was healthy, even though he only had loose motions at that time.

It caused immense shock and sadness to all of us.

But what I have realized now is that if there was any tragic incident that happened, I always felt weak. Rather than dealing with it, I always covered it up. All of it added up and during the lockdown, when we had a financial crisis, this weakness along with fear got triggered,” she said.

Mehzabin sought counsel with a psychiatrist who was working with Society for Nutrition, Education, Health Action (SNEHA) NGO. “It took me a long time to accept that I had this fear in me but the counselling sessions helped me a lot. Over time, I learnt to let go of my fear and depression.” Mehzabin also took inspiration from the work that SNEHA was doing in her community. She found her purpose and aligned with the NGO in helping others facing similar issues.
When Mehzabin started reaching out to the community, the first hurdle she faced was hesitation among the members. “Since I was still dealing with these issues, I wondered how I could get others to open up about their mental health problems.