This Jalandhar College organised psychological fair to support mental health

A recent nationwide survey highlighted that more Indians are suffering from a variety of mental health issues. Be it a student or working professional, every person has his or her own stress in life, which is somehow affecting their mental well-being. Sustained stress or anxiety is also disrupting an individual’s daily routine as well as impacting their sleep.

Therefore, to create further awareness on the importance of mental well-being, the Department of Psychology of Apeejay College of Fine Arts (ACFA), Jalandhar recently organised a psychology fair for its students, wherein they expressed their feelings, home environment, word association, and depression through an open mic activity.

While inaugurating the fair, Ms. Monika Sekhon, Head of Department of Psychology, said,” This is the third consecutive year of the fair and we hope this too will be immensely successful.”

At this fair, students took a psychological test on anxiety to examine the fluctuation pattern of anxiety symptoms. Not only the students but also the faculty members participated with great enthusiasm and zeal.

Further, a meditation session was conducted in which  audience participated and was encouraged to include meditation in their daily routine, to avoid stress and lead a peaceful life. Temporary tattoos and face painting activities were also organised for the entertainment of the students.

On this occasion, Dr. Neerja Dhingra, Principal of ACFA shared, “Through this fair, the students of psychology got the opportunity to deeply understand the importance of psychological testing, psychological games, dance therapy and counselling.”

“This platform even gave the opportunity to non-psychology students to understand the concepts of personality and different behavioural patterns,” she added.

Ms. Sheenu Kochhar, an alumnus of the Department of Psychology in dance therapy highlighted, “Dance is the activity which can reduce the stress of life.”

Another therapist, Ms. Mallika Gupta, who has a Master’s in Psychology from Royal Holloway London, conducted the counselling session during which she interacted with the students and solved their problems.

Sharing her experience, Simran Bawa of BA Semester- 6 said, “Organising Psychology Fair 2023 as a President of Psychology Forum was a delight. I enjoyed bringing up the new ideas to implement theoretical concepts of psychology from books to some fun activities. The forum prepared psychology based attractions like testing, games, meditation, counseling, dance therapy and open mic. Faculty and students had great fun on the day of fair. We feel grateful towards principal mam Dr. Neerja Dhingra and Ms. Monica Sekhon for their undying support and encouragement throughout the process.”

Meanwhile, another student, Kashish of BA Semester- 2 expressed, “Psychology Fair 2023 was one of my greatest experiences in college campus so far. I was delighted to see everyone taking so much interest in psychology. Besides, I got to learn so much more than just classroom reading. For me, dance therapy worked the best as I am a strong believer of achieving excellent mental health by improving physical health. Psychological games tested our sense of perception, resilience, concentration, sensation and precision. Meditation and counseling helped me connect more to my inner soul and it was an amazing experience. Overall I enjoyed the entire thing and I’m looking forward to more such activities.”

At the end of the event, Dr. Neerja Dhingra applauded the efforts of Ms.Monika Sekhon, Head of Psychology, and Ms. Jagriti Nagpal, Assistant Professor of Psychology for successfully organising the Psychology fair.