The eye-opening seminar presented by Dr Ashwini N V, director and founder of the Muktha Foundation, during suicide prevention week to the students of the Department of Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, organized by the faculty of DLHS, was a much-required talk on the underrated awareness of prevention of suicide. The attendees included about 60 students and faculty such as Dr Shilpa Kalyan ma’am (HOD), Dr Arunima Dube Upadhyay, Dr Amandeep Singh, Ms Varsha A Malagi and many more.

The enlightening talk took off with a vibrant interaction with what the audience understood by the term ‘Gatekeeper’. Dr Ashwini then went on to explain the word and the various levels there are to gatekeeping an individual from attempting suicide: primary, secondary and tertiary. Exclusive importance was placed on investing maximum efforts at the primary level where symptoms are relatively weaker and the urge to attempt is comparatively minimal.

This was followed by what can be called a give-and-take discussion about the many prevalent myths about suicide and its attempt; 10 myths were successfully debunked by the active audience and the engaging speaker. Dr Ashwini spontaneously went on to cite a unique narration she heard from an acquaintance named Jyothiraj, a mountain climber, that our audience reacted to enthusiastically. Relevantly, ma’am explained the warning signs of suicide and how the abbreviation CARE (Connect, Acknowledge, Refer and Engage) can be actively utilized to identify and cater to those signs of danger. Imperatively, the audience was provided with the resources available in India, such as helpline numbers, to contact during debilitating moments of depression and suicidal inclination.

Next, the concept of emotional resilience was elucidated using an analogy of a sponge and how it is comparable to the brain; it absorbs what is fed to it, hence, one should be mindful of what is said to oneself. At this stage, the importance of self-affirmation and the obstacles of cognitive distortion, labelling individuals and dichotomous or black-and-white thinking were explained.

The session congruously ended with imparting knowledge of five breathing techniques for the audience to use regularly and at times of distress and with a helpful tactic to recognize how one acts in times of emotional turmoil: are they an attacking shark (furious and irritable)? An avoiding turtle (receding into a shell and resorting to isolation)? or an accommodative teddy bear (disregarding one’s own circumstance and aiding others)? The audience, after multiple guesses, accepted with a chuckle that they must all be collaborative ants who share in struggles and work together towards harmony. Dr. Ashwini ended the interactive session by question and answer session. She was Facilitated by Dr. Shilpa. The program was curated by Dr. Arunima and Dr. Amandeep.