57-year-old Nitin Desai, the art director of many famous Bollywood movies including Lagaan, Devdas, and Jodha Akbar was found dead by suicide in his studio on the morning of 2nd August 2023, just days before his birthday.
“Mental health doesn’t care if you’re at the peak of success or in the pits of struggle. It gets very lonely at the top, so along with climbing the ladder, accomplished people must “step” over the mental issues to “elevate” their well-being.” -Kapil Gupta, CEO and Founder of Solh Wellness.
While farmers suicide, students suicide, bankruptcy suicides are easily understood, there is not a large number of accomplished people suicides (artists, businessmen, etc). Bollywood seems like a breeding ground for it. It is true that conversations about suicide are not scarce. However, they remain terse when one questions “Why?”. Why is it that people resort to suicide? When does it become the only answer? And what can be done about it? At Solh Wellness, we seek to answer the questions that remain unanswered about every sensitive issue related to mental health.
“Almost every time, suicide is a result of excessive psychache, that is, mental pain.”
– Dr. Edwin Schneidman, Suicidologist
Several studies have suggested that a range of factors may affect suicidal conduct. These factors encompass individual, psychological, social, and environmental components. For certain persons, mental health conditions including depression, anxiety disorders, drug addiction, or schizophrenia can significantly raise their risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. On another end, the issues of social exclusion, isolation, and troubled interpersonal existence may contribute to suicide. According to Aaron Beck, Maria Kovacs, and Arlene Weissman’s essay “Hopelessness and Suicidal Behavior,” despair is a potent cognitive structure that contributes to a pessimistic outlook on life, a deficiency of motivation, and the belief that one’s circumstances cannot get better. Solh aims to understand different perspectives and hence offers personalized and preventative tools such as self-assessment tests, journaling, mood analytics, etc. to understand the gravity of the issue right in the bud, so that attention and relief can be offered before the situation worsens.
Isolation also plays a significant role in the growing suicide rates. In the modern world, despite being more connected than ever through technology, people can still feel profoundly isolated and disconnected from others. Solh’s Community Support acts as a social lifeline by fostering a supportive and judgment-free online community, providing a safe space for individuals to connect, share similar experiences, and seek
support, thereby reducing feelings of loneliness and emotional isolation. Moreover, Solh’s expert services help in combating this with making professional help available 24/7, including counseling, therapy packages, and allied therapies like yoga and art therapy. The Talk Now feature serves as a bridge of connection, instantly providing free professional support and effectively breaking the isolation barriers.
Addressing suicide requires a comprehensive and preventive approach that involves various sectors of society. At Solh Wellness, we take a step forward in countering suicide as a rampant social and personal issue by raising awareness about mental health in an effort to break the stigma surrounding it and bring about a sense of normalisation.
Access to mental health services must be improved to ensure that help is readily available to those struggling with mental health issues. India is a country with a population of nearly 1.5 billion people. In 2021, 164,033 (recorded) people died by suicide alone. In a country where mental health services are not accessible, we make an effort to offer a plethora of free tools and paid but affordable services to everyone in need. Solh Wellness attempts at making mental well-being accepted, rendering it 24/7 available, accessible, affordable, and personalized for everyone.
About us:
Solh Wellness is a comprehensive mental health platform that is helping people increase their psychological capital. We have garnered over 70,000+ downloads globally on our app and have over 250+ clinical service providers onboard who provide expert assistance to our users. Our free Talk Now feature has had 6000+ conversations, helping people through difficult times.
For more, visit: https://www.solhapp.com/
