Depok-Mental health is something that affects the way a person thinks, feels, and acts. Based on Our World in Data 2019, it was recorded that in Indonesia, women are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders than men. There are at least five common mental health disorders, namely anxiety disorders, eating behavior, depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia. One way to overcome this is to pay full attention to the conditions experienced and accept them with awareness or what is commonly called mindfulness. This phenomenon was conveyed by Dian Kurniati, S.Psi., Psikolog., CHT., CI. at a seminar entitled “Live to the Fullest with Mindfulness” held by the Family Women’s Association (IWK) Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI), on July 25, 2024.
(Photo: Dian conveys the importance of mental health for a person)
There are several things that can happen when someone does not accept their mental state, including contagious stress, poor communication, lack of patience and empathy, inability to manage emotions, neglect of oneself, and others. Dian said, “Women often have to manage dual roles as workers and caregivers which increases workload and stress.”
Dian recommends that everyone does not self-diagnose or diagnose themselves as having a disorder or disease based on knowledge or information obtained independently. “When doing self-diagnose, a person is actually assuming that they know about the health problem they are experiencing. Everything is only equipped with the information that you have yourself. This can be dangerous because the assumption could be wrong,” added Dian.
(Photo: Members of UI Vocational IWKattending the seminar “Live to the Fullest with Mindfulness”)
On that occasion, seminar participants consisting of female academicians in the UI Vocational environment, were invited to practice mindfulness, such as box breathing 4-4-4-4; 4-7-8 breathing; and diaphragmatic breathing. They also practiced the butterfly tapping technique and the 5 4 3 2 1 grounding technique.
(Photo: Chair of UI Vocational IWK, Dewi Anggraini Padang, giving a speech)
The Chair of IWK Vokasi UI, Dewi Anggraini Padang, said that the seminar was held to provide understanding and educate UI Vocational IWK members about the importance of mental health. “I hope that the members of UI Vocational IWK can continue to maintain their mental health, especially as women in the current generation,” said Dewi. In the future, UI Vocational IWK will hold similar activities by providing benefits to the wider community, not only for UI Vocational IWK members.
