Despite living in the 21st century, majority population seems oblivious of their distorted mental state leading to frustration and increased rates of suicides because of the disgrace associated with consulting therapists. Thus, such a daunting scenario calls for an out of the box approach and voicing our opinions as spreading mental health awareness becomes a fundamental issue. As a mental health advocate, Jassreet Kaur, a grade 12 Humanities at Indraprastha International School, has always ardently desired to learn and spread awareness about abstract health issues, psychological disorders and social taboos concerning mental health not just by reading the stipulated curriculum but by enhancing her professional and interpersonal skills beyond what is taught in the school. Thus, due to these immense undertaking, she has been proudly awarded with The Jagruk Champion Award.
Jassreet has not only headed an informed community of mental health advocates within and beyond her school but has also actively upskilled in diverse psychology disciplines by attending various co-scholastic courses and workshops from Fortis Healthcare on positive, counselling, school and fashion psychology and on psychological illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. She even learned to how manage aggression and risk prone behaviour, gender sensitization and worked as a summer intern under the reputed Fortis Mental Health Care program. Furthermore, as a part of ‘The Soulful Mind’ organisation, Jassreet interned under a certified therapist and learnt the basics of becoming a clinical psychologist, thereby fostering professional experiences at the early age of 17. With such prolific experiences on board, she aspires to become a psychologist, targeting mental health issues across the globe.
Being an active member of the Mentify Foundation (a non-profit organisation dedicated to dismantling social stigmas), she had designed content for the social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn which made mental-health and self-care resources accessible to a large community of people and demystified mental-health through empowering articles on Negative and Positive Emotional Management, and a complex parallel working system of the two mechanisms. Since grade 10, she has also been an active Core Team Member of the Soul Diets Foundation, practising and preaching mindfulness as an efficient way of dealing with mental heath concerns.
Jassreet’s interest and compassion towards psychological health industry is deeply evident from the mental health ambassador program she undertook at Project Ukiyo, a non-profit organisation management. Learning from experts about self-introspection and validation of one’s mental emotions, she displayed a zestful participation in the program. Based on her inquisitive interactions within the community, she is further selected to conduct a peer support programme which allows individuals to channelise their overt emotions through interactive active listening sessions. Jassreet’s out of the box strategies also involve portraying the significance of psychological deformations through published creative writing and impactful theatrical ventures
Through the occurrence of these contributions, Jassreet lays great emphasis on the notion of self-actualisation. She regards it as ‘the highest level of mental peace that she can acquire through accomplishing the endeavours of the universe and she has encompassed for herself.’ She also gives utmost importance towards breaking the existing stigma around therapy, in achieving her goals of self-actualisation. And these endeavours explicitly comprise of spreading mental-health awareness accessible to each and every corner of the society, making the significance of mental safety congruous and equivalent to physical well-being, thereby forming a workforce of psychologists whose numbers resonate closely with that of doctors in the modern health workforce.
Although she comprehends that her relate to that of a long-sighted goal, but this is the beauty of philosophical psychology, it allows you to imaginatively define, constructively ideate, and creatively innovate, ‘what it means to be a Jagruk citizen in all senses.’
