IT’S IMPORTANT TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH, SAYS MARGO COOPER

Jyothi Venkatesh

The recent death of Sushant Singh Rajput has shocked all of us. The young actor hanged himself at his residence in Bandra on Sunday. Following his death, people across the country have started to open up about mental illness and depression. Miss Bulgaria 2019, Margo Cooper, has a strong opinion on mental health. Interestingly, during the Miss World pageant, she had taken up this topic. Margo says, "It’s a heartbreaking cause to raise awareness about mental health.

But all of us need to take it seriously. It has to be taken as seriously as physical health. We all know the phone number of the ambulance but not so many people know where to call when they feel anxious or depressed. Mental issues are always like an invisible battle going on inside a person and sometimes it’s hard to recognize. Especially nowadays with social media and all the ideas of creating an image of a perfect life, people are trying to hide what they are going through. It only increases loneliness, insecurity, and instability.”

So whom should a person contact when you are not feeling right within? She says, "First-person you need to take care of is you. It’s important to take care of your mental health. There is nothing wrong with this. I really want to be heard and to tell people that they are not alone. Every person goes through some hard times. Especially with the current Covid-19 situation, it takes extra effort not to get depressed.” Margo has an interesting take on people’s mindset and adds, "People usually don’t share their problems and if they are isolated it seems like impossible to handle.

We all have been there at some point. It’s very important to find it out and talk to someone about the way you feel. Talk to your close people or call helplines. They were created for us when needed. Second of all, find time to ask people you care about how they feel and listen to them, let them know you are always here for them. Kindness can heal many things. There is so much hate and aggression in the world, so it's important not to spread it because you never know what the person is going through. The bullycide (suicide caused by bullying) rate is rising fast and the only reason for this is aggression, especially on social media. It’s always very sad when people die at a young age, I sincerely sympathize to people who lost their friend Sushant Singh Rajput.”