A BIG 70th Birthday to you - Mental Health Foundation

Mental illness in Asia has a significant impact on our society individually, socially and economically. A study revealed that approximately one in five Malaysian adults aged 16 to 75 years will experience at least one of the common forms of mental illness throughout any given year and 45% will experience a mental health or substance-use disorder in their lifetime. 

This year, Drona Wellness actively participated in Mental Health Foundation's Mental Health Awareness Week. We, from Drona Wellness would also like to take this opportunity to wish Mental Health Foundation a very Happy Birthday. Today, 18th July is their BIG 70th Birthday! In year 2001, they launched Mental Health Awareness Week with the hashtag of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. The whole world participates annually in the month of May and we are proud that we did our part by participating in it too. 

Mental Health Foundation, wishing you more achievements in your promised progress and all the very best in embracing the challenge of prevention on mental health issues. 

This year's theme of Mental Health Awareness is Body Image. We caught up with a renounced scientist, Dr Magaret Sivaprasagam from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS who started the #scientistcanwearmakeup. 

Why her? It made very much sense with this year's theme. It was overwhelming that she shared something personal which she never shared before on body shaming and bullying. We truly appreciate her courage of sharing her views and we thank her for the inspiration to strive more ourselves. 

When asked what does mental wellness means to her? Dr Magaret replied confidently,  "A healthy state of mind". 

Her real life experiences explains why she prompted to start a hashtag #scientistcanwearmakeup. 

"I started the hashtag #scientistscanwearmakeup in 2017, after receiving some queries/criticism on wearing makeup as a scientist. I have had people come up to me and say, “You look as if you belong in the media world or in human resource and not in science”. In many Asian countries, female scientists are often perceived to look a certain way. This includes the way a female scientist would dress or even carry herself. Upon speaking about it to a few friends, I realized the struggles for women in science and especially for women working in male-dominated field environments will only change when there are more women in the field, and also more women in positions of power within the scientific community. Women scientists are taken less seriously when they dress in a feminine manner. A woman should always have the liberty to dress up however way she wants without being judged. So, I started that hashtag in hope that I could inspire young girls to always be yourself. Let your personality shine, and a little sass never hurts! Ironically, this additional scrutiny actually makes us better scientists!"

We all know the internet is alive with self-help/body image/wellness advice. When asked how would Dr Magaret advise people, to check the things they hear/read/see about it. She shared her views "I’m seeing worryingly young girls – schoolgirls – develop irrational eating/lifestyle habits off the back of YouTube videos and selfies, rise of Instagram, forums and blogs. To check the credibility of these information if it is scientifically proven"

Also, on how she distinguishes credible wellness information, she replied it should be from a reliable source. Being a scientist herself, Dr Magaret tends to rely more on information which are backed up with scientific evidences.

Women in power. Her professionalism has got no boundaries, how she responds to criticism in her line of work by initially getting very worked up and sad about it, but sooner or later she learned to brush it off. Criticism can be hurtful and spiteful, but she chose to not respond to it. The lesser she responds to it, the less upset/angry she gets. Isn't that already a healthy habit towards a healthy mind? 

When asked who has most inspired her throughout her career path and who do she consider her mentors. She explains "I believe experience is the best teacher, every big or little hurdle one goes through, mentors us to be better individuals. Additionally, I like to look at my surroundings as a source of inspiration. There is so much one can learn by just observing our surroundings. One of the biggest life lessons I learnt is from my fur-kid. I believe there are so many values we can learn from animals if we just observe closely enough"

The first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is to say a prayer. She would never leave home without her handphone. 

We wanted to know her guilty pleasure,  and promptly it revolves around food which is Cake.

When asked how could she describe her style in one word, her answer is simple, "Elegant"

The best life advice she’ve received so far is……."When there is a problem, you solve the problem, not attack the person the problem is associated with. Focus on fixing the problem, not attacking the person"

When asked her opinion, how does body image link to mental health? 

Dr Magaret explains very vividly "Body image has everything to do with your mental state. Appearance-based body shaming can be detrimental to a person, be it a child or an adult. Growing up as a pre-teen I was bullied and ridiculed because of my skin tone.  I endured regular racist taunts about my dark skin tone. I was called cruel names simply because of the color of my skin. This took a huge toll on my life- elevating my insecurities and never feeling good enough. It was not until my late 20s that I began to pick up the confidence to embrace myself wholly. I soon realised that I could choose to dwell on these negative comments or to prove myself to the world, and I chose the latter. Life always gives you choices, to wallow in self-pity or to get going. When you choose to take action to make things better you learn to accept the situations that you cannot change (ie. skin colour). Choose to lift yourself up and enjoy life! You are in charge of your own happiness- It is your personal responsibility. I still get comments such as these till this very day, but now I shrug it off and use that energy to better myself"

As far as challenges in life is concerned, Dr Magaret says her frequently asked questions are

"What is it that you do for a living?"

"Why are you not married yet?"

"How does it feel to be a woman scientist in a field primarily dominated by men?"

The impact Dr Magaret wants to have on the world is for all women to be confident no matter how they look. She added "A little makeup never hurts anyone! Be proud of your achievements! Sometimes you must put yourself out there to be heard"

With her current achievements and more to come, Dr Magaret's mission now is to be an academician to teach and nurture young minds. 

#dronawellness #wellnesstome #mentalhealthawareness #mentalwellness