The District Mental Health Cell conducted " winning ways to Well Being Program" in Syapley secondary school

Gangtok, 27 July: The District Mental Health Cell, Dept of Health, Govt of Sikkim  conducted " winning ways to Well Being Program" in Syapley secondary school on 26 July 2016 as part of Singtam District Hospital to reach out to students to educate them about positive mental wellbeing, and other adolescents health issues. 

Resource persons were Kesang Bhutia, Tika Sharma, Pinky Bhutia and Udai Gurung ( counselors) who deliberated on mental well being, stress management, harmful effects to substance abuse , tobacco and COTPA laws, and adolescent health. The resource person stressed that mental health refers to our cognitive (Thinking), or emotional (feeling) wellbeing –and social wellbeing. Mental health is not about absence of mental illnesses.  it is all about how we think, feel and behave.

Although it might seem easy to define mental health as the absence of mental illness, most experts agree that there is more to being mentally healthy. The U.S. Surgeon General has defined mental health as "a state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity." The state of being mentally healthy is enviable given the advantages it affords. For example, mentally healthy adults tend to report the fewest health-related limitations of their routine activities, the fewest full or partially missed days of work, and the healthiest social functioning (for example, low helplessness, clear life goals, high resilience, and high levels of intimacy in their lives).

Mental illness refers to all of the diagnosable mental disorders. Mental disorders are characterized by abnormalities in thinking, feelings, or behaviors. 

A pledge was also made by school students to help each other during times of crisis, help in every possible way to make Sikkim " Smoke Free and Drug Free".