A reproductive health & mental well-being workshop was held at Delhi University’s Aryabhatta College as part of Gracia Raina Foundation’s RightAGE programme on March 7, Thursday.

 

Attended by 100 girls & boys, the workshop was led by Priyanka Chaudhary Raina, Founder & Director-Gracia Raina Foundation, presented by Dr. Shelly Singh, Senior Gynaecologist, Rainbow Children’s Hospital & Dr.

Divya Jain, Head, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon. 

 

It was organised to raise awareness about reproductive health, mental well-being and gender sensitisation.

 

“Education, career, leadership skills – you should focus on these aspects of life, sure, but what’s most important is, knowing your body, your health. If you’re healthy, everything else will fall into place,” Priyanka said and added that knowing about one’s reproductive health not only empowers the individual but helps him/ her take informed, better health-based decisions.

 

Parents play a crucial role in guiding children to good health, which is why they need to have an open communication with their kids and often. “For girls your age, you can choose to discuss this freely with your friends, even teachers. It’s really crucial that parents & teachers educate our young populations with

appropriate knowledge, so that they are able to take better health-related decisions,” she further added.

 

PCOS, STI, modern contraception methods, menstrual cycle were among the major topics touched upon by Dr. Singh. “To be able to better take care of one’s reproductive health, one must start with basic lifestyle changes such as exercise & diet,” Singh added.

 

Dr. Jain, on the other hand, emphasised that just being sad over a heart break or a tiff with friend is not enough to be categorised as depression. “It requires at least 2 weeks of experiencing a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed by the individual, along with feelings of sadness. It can happen very randomly, and not

necessarily by a trigger event,” she further added.