Griseo– ‘It’s okay to be grey in a black and white world’
Updated: Jun 20, 2021
By Mudit Kohli
Data from the Mental Health First Aid organisation shows that 5 percent of adults (18 or older) experience a mental illness in any one year, equivalent to 43.8 million people. And half of all mental disorders begin by age 14 and three-quarters by age 24. Mental health deserves global attention. It entails psychological, emotional and social well-being as one’s mental health affects how they think, feel and act.
Griseo (‘grey’ in Latin– the emotions felt while having a mental health disorder is often associated with the colour grey) is an initiative that started almost two years ago, in 2019, with an aim to help teenagers cope with the overwhelming mental disorders they face in their day to day lives with expert webinars and articles. The objective also extends to providing a platform for people to express their thoughts and feelings safely.
Rhea Rangarajan and Sarah Samad; the co-founders of the initiative, were inspired by the idea of diminishing the stigma around mental health and share a passion for the same. Griseo started off as an anonymous platform for people who needed a way to express themselves without being judged. It expanded to a website where basic information on prevalent mental illnesses and other relevant information was made available. The information provided has been read by psychologists from Nimhans (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) to ensure that accurate details have been put across. The project also started including expert webinars (series known as ‘Mending Mindsets - www.griseo.in/videos) where professionals in the field would discuss the different mental illnesses and the importance of receiving the right treatment and following well-being practices. So far there have been 7 different webinars in the series, each consisting of around 20-25 people. Alongside the webinars, there are also articles with personal experiences of how people have suffered with mental illnesses and how they have overcome that obstacle in their lives. The co-founders have made it open for the writer to keep the article anonymous, if they wish to do so.
The initiative of Griseo has also opened arms to interns and/or volunteers who are looking to contribute towards positive change and helping those who require it the most. To reach out or to know more about Griseo, here are the following contacts:
Website: www.griseo.in
Instagram: @griseo.in
