World Health Day: Science City conducts webinar on stress management during covid-19

Pushpa Gujral Science City celebrated World Health Day by organizing a webinar on “Managing Stress during Covid-19”. Around 200 students and teachers from all over Punjab participated through virtual mode.

Dr. Himanshu Sareen, Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, Punjab Institute of Medical Science, Jalandhar was the key speaker at this occasion. During the live interaction, he said that stress should not be seen in isolation but in relation to how the event is perceived, available social support and coping capabilities.

“A person with good support and coping ability is less likely to have harmful effect when faced with stressful situations whereas a person can easily breakdown even when the stress is not very severe if one has poor stress managing ability”, he said.

He urged the participants to eat healthy, exercise regularly and evade paranoia.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Neelima Jerath, Director General, Science City told that according to latest results of the World Happiness Report, India is the fourth-least happy country in the world.

“The country’s chronic unhappiness is a result of many factors: rapid urbanization and congestion in cities, concerns about food security and water safety, rising costs of health care, women’s safety, and environmental pollution, which itself is linked to poor mental wellbeing”, she added.

She pointed out that Stress is one of the leading causes of absenteeism in schools and that happy students learn better and 'Happy Schools & Happy Homes' enhance academic performance.

Dr. Rajesh Grover, Director, Science City delivering the vote of thanks said the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact is going far beyond physical symptoms. Even though last year’s experience is helping people adapt to the new normal, anxiety, uncertainty and loneliness are taking a heavy toll on mental health. On a positive side, India is armed with two locally made vaccines but to flatten the rising COVID-19 curve, people would again have to minimise outings, maintain distance and spend more time at home.