KANGAROO MINDS

How often have you heard the phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’? - Throw in extra points if it came from a family member who was trying to coax you into doing something for them or to get you to conform to their belief systems. Typically, this line is used to refer to the idea that the bonds of family are stronger than any other bonds that people can hold together; and many of us have grown up hearing this age-old adage, be it in our families who bring us up to believe this

We’re told getting things off our chest will make us feel better in the long run, but what should we do if we initially feel worse? If you're one of those who does feel worse, know that you’re not alone. There is a term which describes this feeling that we get, it’s called the ‘Vulnerability Hangover’. Coined by author and researcher Brené Brown in her TED Talk on “The Power of Vulnerability,” it is best explained as this gut-wrenching feeling pops up the moment we decide to

Have you ever thought of how often you’ve been asked to be thankful, feel grateful or to count your blessings? We have been told that practicing gratitude is good for our Mental Health and overall wellbeing and we’ve seen this in terms of Social Media challenges, hashtags, making gratitude jars or even having gratitude journals. While Gratitude can be a very grounding experience, we need to be conscious that there is a dark side to it which we need to be vigilant of. The dark

When you think of the term ‘parents’ or ‘family’, it might evoke an array of emotions, based on your childhood and current family situation and your memories, these feelings could be mostly positive, mostly negative, or an equal mix of both. It is important to realise that while blood can make people related, that doesn’t mean that we need to hold them at a pedestal and look at them through rose tinted glasses - we need to remember that they too can be extremely toxic and bad

Is it ok that I'm scared to go back to normal life? What if I’ve forgotten how to socialise and make small-talk? Can I hit the snooze button on this whole return-to-normal thing? Are we even ready for an unlock? If you’ve had one or more of these thoughts (or anything similar), know that you aren’t alone. After almost 18 months of Zoom meetings, online school, virtual happy hours and Facetime movie nights, for better or for worse, many of us have gotten used to these new rout

We clapped for them. We sang for them. We put out rainbows and appreciation messages for them. The past year has been nothing short of challenging for our valiant doctors, nurses and frontline workers because not only have they been battling the Covid-19 virus but have also been braving its toll on their Mental Health and wellbeing through this time. There are no masks for Mental Health protection and the pandemic has definitely taken a toll on our Covid-19 warriors as well.

Loneliness. We’ve heard of a lot of people speaking out about feeling lonely from time to time, and this has only increased during the pandemic as people found themselves cut off from peers, loved ones and their social networks. While loneliness is no stranger to us, the conversations around it are. Loneliness is a universal human emotion that is complex to understand and painful to cope with. We are all too familiar with those feelings which accompany loneliness - the low fe

Not loving your job or, more specifically, just plain outright hating it can cause more than just unhappiness in your career or professional dissatisfaction. It can take a major, lasting toll on the state of your mental health and wellbeing as well. And sometimes, the only solution is to pull up your socks and quit. The decision to leave a job for the sake of your Mental Health and wellbeing is a massive one, that comes with the weight of shame and guilt, especially in a soci

If you’ve paid attention to your social media feeds through May, you’d have noticed the plethora of content around Mental Health Awareness. It’s no coincidence, because May happened to be Mental Health Month. Every year, when the month comes around online platforms are abuzz with conversations about Mental Health with hashtags trending, influencers putting out messages, survey releases, brands using it in their promotion and a lot of events all over the world. Unfortunately,

The first principal of Social Etiquette 101 which society tries to engrain in us is: "Do not judge people." And of course we are all too familiar with the cliched age old adage, “Don’t judge the book by its cover." We have always been encouraged to be cordial and non-judgemental, but have you ever thought over the idea that judging may possibly be hardwired in our brains and be an inherent trait? Does being judgmental really just being that we are being human? Homo sapiens ap

This past week has not only marked one year since the tragic passing away of George Floyd which lead to the iconic Black Lives Matter protests in many parts of the world, but it has also been a year in the pandemic which brought out several stories of rising inequalities and racially motivated hate crimes. Now more than ever is the need for us to have these conversations exploring Racism, Inequalities and Mental Health, especially with regards to the BIPOC community. These is

Love is Love. Equality Matters. Love is Free. We are all the same inside. -- We’ve all heard these slogans, and on days which are associated with LGBTQ+ causes, we share & advocate for them as well, but have we ever really thought on the realities that individuals in this community face almost daily especially when it comes to their Mental Health? Members of the LGBTQ+ community have Mental Health just like any of us do, but very often they face additional challenges when it

We’ve all grown up on the age-old adage, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’, but how often have we tried to apply this to the various realms of life? How often do we question the apparent happy realities to scrape beneath the surface? The same idea applies to the concept of Family businesses - we look on the outside and see those magazine covers, press interviews, those tall and progressive claims, picture-perfect smiles in photoshoots it is easy to be caught up and believe t

“Save the Earth - we have no Planet B.”; “You planet needs you” ; “The Climate is changing, why aren’t we?”, “Make a change for Climate Change”… and the list can go on. When we think about climate change, we tend to think about sea levels rising, melting glaciers, erratic weather patterns, but do we think of deteriorating Mental Health? We’ve long passed the point of writing off signs of climate change as simply another phase in the normal cycle of global warming and cooling.

We’ve all seen the popular message going around - How are we celebrating the 1 year anniversary of our 14 day lockdown to flatten the curve…! The month will be filled with social media reminders and memories of the first day of Lockdown from 2020; photos of empty shelves and stories of hoarding toilet paper and pasta amidst other things. While that time might seem like it was eons ago, we have gotten through 1 year of lockdown. Despite the sacrifices we made by staying home,

Have you ever felt Blue? The chances are, like many people out there, you have too. Feeling Blue is a normal feeling and is a part of our human experience, the good thing is though, that there are many things we can do to #BeatTheBlues. Even though we have a day of the year demarcated as ‘Blue Monday’, is it important to know that feeling Blue doesn’t look into what day of the week, month or year it is & it is a feeling which can affect anyone of us. We can all feel blue, whe

If you’ve come across articles on the lines of ‘How to be Happy’, ‘Top tips to boost your happiness’, ‘Ideas for Cultivating Happiness’, ‘Ways to unlock your Happiness’ - know that you’re not alone in that. We are being flooded with stories which advocate and promote the pursuit of happiness as something which is good for us, for our Mental Health and for our Wellbeing; but have you ever thought about the flip side to Happiness? Would you be surprised if we told you the flip

There is a reason it’s said that when someone is having a rough day it’s likely that they “woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” - As it turns out, there’s quite a bit of truth behind this colloquial saying as Sleep affects our physical and mental state. It’s no secret that sleep plays an important role in good physical and mental health and that lack of sleep can have several implications. Sleep deprivation can leave you feeling irritable, restless and exhausted in the shor

Research has shown that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected women more than men, both as frontline workers and at home, and one of the areas in which women have been worse impacted has been with regards to their Mental Health. The ongoing pandemic can be looked at as a double edge sword in that that it as not only taken a toll on Physical Health but also Mental Health. The virus has affected people around in the world in so many ways. Things like physical distancing, self-isol

When you leave home and go to college, you’re facing new people, new experiences, new expectations, new stresses, new environments, new decisions... and you may find yourself lost at sea while looking to charter these new waters and to stay afloat. This experience can be exciting, exhilarating, freeing, and terrifying all at once. Mental Health refers to your emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. This can impact your thoughts, feelings, relationships, physical health