Most of us have been taught to suppress our emotions since early childhood. While girls are taught to behave a certain way in order to be good enough for the world, boys are usually taught to hide their emotions as a sign of strength. As a result of this, we grow up with a lot of unresolved and untreated emotions. We often struggle to deal with these issues. But seeking help is not only expensive, it also has a lot of stigma attached.

There has always been a stigma attached to taking therapy since decades. Depression and anxiety have been passed on from generations to generations unknowingly. People hesitate talking about therapy and even if they gather and muster up the courage to opt for it they cannot due to financial restraints. In this era of inflation we budget everything and when it comes to our mental health we make concessions and ignore it owing to the high charges of the therapists.

There are times in everyone’s lives that they need a professional to help them out in low phases, dealing with trauma, dealing with emotions (because we’ve been taught to ignore and suppress them) and so much more because our friends and family members are not equipped to deal with all this and neither should we burden our loved ones with such responsibilities that would harm them in the long term.

Seeking help for mental health issues should be normalised and made affordable.

Most of us pay hefty premiums for our health insurance policies. Then, we also pay premiums towards corporate health policies. But none of them cover therapy charges — not even a part of it.

People suffer and will keep on suffering unless and until we put a stop to it.

I request the IRDA to issue guidelines so that mental health therapy sessions are covered under insurance. The authorities could ensure that the cost of at least 60-70% of the sessions are covered.

It’s hight time that we focus on and take care of our mental health, along with our physical health and not just keep ignoring it.

I request you all to support me in trying to bring about this change by signing and sharing this petition and also sharing it with others.

Thank you for your support,
Aakriti