Tahira Kashyap Khurrana has always been a strong woman who inspires us to do better in life. From battling breast cancer to depression, Tahira doesn’t shy away from talking about real-life problems and has won us over with her outspoken attitude time and again.
Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Mind Your Mind’ recently, Tahira Kashyap opened up about speaking to her children about her health and the problems she was dealing with. She also highlighted the importance of talking to children about mental health, a topic that is often left ignored. Further, the mother of two emphasised on the need to create a safe space for children at home to enable them to open up and express themselves.
According to ANI, Tahira Kashyap elaborated that while mental health continues to remain a taboo, people refuse to ‘believe’ that children and teenagers can also have mental health problems. “Mind Your Mind is a rather important forum to address the issue of children’s and teenager’s mental health. Unfortunately, mental health is something that is considered a taboo and conveniently brushed under the carpet. Somehow, nobody wants to believe that even our children can go through depression and anxiety. I believe that it is significant to create an open discussion on mental health especially since the cases have shot up by a huge margin during the lockdown,” she said.
The author and filmmaker had previously even opened up about the challenges she faced due to depression and how she pushed through them by focusing on her mental health.
10 to 20% children & adolescents deal with mental health problems
According to the World Health Organisation, about 10 to 20% children and adolescents suffer from mental health problems across the globe. WHO attributes this problem to lack of mental health care, awareness and negative experiences during the formative years. Moreover, a majority of these children and teenagers do not receive adequate help or care. Further, WHO data suggests that most of these problems start at the age of 14 years and extend to adulthood. Childhood epilepsy, developmental disabilities, depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are some of the most common mental health conditions in the youth.
These shocking numbers by WHO proves that it’s time we normalise talking about mental health and remove the stigma that surrounds it. As Tahira correctly put it, the lockdown has been harsh on people of all age groups and it’s only right to openly discuss issues that have long been brushed under the carpet.
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