By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month in many countries around the world. This month aims to raise awareness about mental health issues and reduce the stigma surrounding it. Mosaab Dhari, a Kuwaiti medical student and founder of ‘Med talks’, finds this an opportunity to promote the importance of mental health and encourage people to seek help when needed. Dhari revealed one in four people suffer from a mental illness. He said mental health involves several aspects such as emotional, psychological and social well-being, and they affect how people feel, think, and act in their day-to-day lives. He called on people to check on their friends and family who are suffering in silence. On how to maintain good mental health, he said: “Usually people think of health as an absence of disease, but to achieve a good level of mental health, we need to have healthy ways of thinking and experiencing and interacting with other people with our emotions.” He explained some people have an issue with conveying their emotions, stressing that in daily life, a lot of tools can help a person achieve a healthy state of mind, such as meditation, journaling and expressing gratitude. But sometimes they need help in this journey through therapy, even if they are not suffering from mental or psychological illnesses. “Many variables can affect any person’s mental health. One of the biggest factors is childhood experience, both bad and good. Childhood not only helps to shape our personalities and characters, but can also influence our insecurities. Threats from school, work and family also contribute to our mental well-being,” he pointed out. Dhari affirmed that fixing basic issues is a must. “It can be achieved by sleeping well, eating healthily and exercising, which can contribute to our mental health as much as our physical health. Other than that, we can journal by writing about our experiences and emotions. The effects of writing down have been scientifically proven to be beneficial,” he noted. “Expressing gratitude also helps by reminding ourselves of the positive aspects of our lives. while meditation and mindfulness can help combat daily stress,” Dhari added, calling on people who are struggling with negative thoughts or emotions and suffering from previous trauma or negative past experiences to seek help from friends or family. If this is not enough, therapy is always an option.