NEERJA BIRLA’S MPOWER LAUNCHES#EVERYDAYHEROES CAMPAIGN ft HRITHIK ROSHAN TO PROMOTE AWARENESS ABOUTMENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS

NEERJA BIRLA’S MPOWER LAUNCHES#EVERYDAYHEROES 

CAMPAIGN ft HRITHIK ROSHAN TO PROMOTE AWARENESS 

ABOUTMENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS 

Launchedin Mumbai, the campaign celebrates everyday heroes 

who have bravelyfought their mental health disorders 

by Sumsn Gupta

Mumbai, October2016:Mpower, the mental healthcare organisation launched earlier this yearby Neerja and Ananya Birla, unveiled a new campaign #EverydayHeroeswith Hrithik Roshan today at Tote, Mumbai. The campaign celebratesand encourages common people who have overcome their mental healthproblems. The campaign featuring Hrithik Roshan celebrates real lifepeople who have bravely spoken up, overcome prejudices and biasesagainst mental illnesses and sought help.

Theevent also saw the announcement of weekly Facebook Live sessions withMPower experts for those who would like to have their questionsanswered by professionals working in the field of mental health.MPower also announced its commitment to spreading awareness andhelping to change attitudes towards mental health. To do this it willengage with various stakeholders, kicking off with a school andcollege outreach program for children and young people.

Mpowerwas launched earlier this year to work towards empowering individualswith mental health issues, especially the young, by creatingawareness and also providing all-rounded services. Mpower aims to getrid of the stigma, and misconceptions associated with mental healthdisorders through various awareness building initiatives and byacknowledging those who have successfully overcome their problemsthrough the #EverydayHeroes campaign. The key objective of thecampaign is to encourage those facing mental health problems andtheir family and friends to speak up and ask for help as that is thekey to finding the road to recovery.

Speakingat the launch of the campaign, NeerjaBirla, Co-Founder & Chairperson, Mpower said,“Inour country, there is a huge stigma attached to people suffering frommental illnesses. One-tenth of our youth and children suffer frommental health disorders in silence out of shame and fear. We want tochange this attitude and mindset- studies have shown that there ismarked improvement if people undertake the right therapies andtreatment, in children the earlier the better! Seeking help shouldnot be challenging and should not be a source of shame. Anyone’swho chooses to speak up about the challenges they faced dealing withtheir mental health concerns, can inspire and be that example thatleads the way. This is we launched #EverydayHeroes- to recognisepeople who deal with adversity daily, as they look to overcome andwork towards mental-wellness. We feel very honoured to have HrithikRoshan on this campaign and are grateful to him for his constantsupport in our endeavour. “

Addingon, HrithikRoshan said,“Ibelieve the key thing in addressing mental health illness is stampingout the stigma associated with it. A mental health issue can happento anyone, including you and me. We need to come together to helppeople embrace this problem. I salute Mrs Neerja Birla and her entireteam at Mpower for their relentless efforts in this direction. I amso proud tocontribute my bit through ‘Mpower's campaign 'Everyday Heroes’,which I believe is my most purposeful film till date"

TheMPower Movement works to improve awareness and understanding ofmental health conditions. From a broader call to action throughevents like Ride to MPower, MPower is also undertaking targetedoutreach through workshops at schools, colleges and corporates.MPower Centre offers diagnostics, treatment and counselling forchildren and young adults for mental health conditions such asanxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and substance use. We alsooffer guidance for school related issues such as learningdisabilities, behavioural issues and neuro-developmental concernssuch as autism spectrum disorders.