NEW DELHI, 10 October, 2019: On the eve of World Mental Health Day, Fortis Healthcare, India's leading healthcare solution provider, is partnering with TikTok, the world's leading shot-video platform, and People Like Us Create (PLUC), India's leading mobile storytelling network, to launch an initiative called #UnmuteYourself. This is an online movement against silence and stigma attached to the mental health.

 As part of this initiative, Fortis Healthcare and PLUC will be conducting an interactive workshop with school and college undergraduate students to sensitize them about the importance of mental health in everyday lives. These workshops will be conducted by Dr. Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at Fortis Healthcare. The workshops will be conducted across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Mohali, Ludhiana and other cities.

Close to one in every five people across the world suffer from a mental health-related disorder at some point in their life. According to the latest findings by World Health Organization (WHO), depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite its prevalence, problems related to mental health continue to be shrouded in stigma. Mental health problems therefore continue to go unidentified or untreated, and people continue to suffer in silence.

To extend further support and mobilize more people to participate in this movement, TikTok, the world's leading short video platform, will launch a hashtag #UnmuteYourself, an in-app challenge inviting users to join movement against silence and stigma. Additionally, the hashtag description will provide information about the 24*7 helpline run in 14 languages by The Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences 

Commenting on the workshop, Dr Samir Parikh said, "It's important that positive conversations around mental health take place in social media. Social media has a significant reach and we need to ensure that this reach is beneficial. #UnMuteYourself is an initiative by Fortis Healthcare to encourage people to talk rather than bottling up their feelings."

"The topic of mental health has not been discussed enough, and those who have expressed concerns about their mental health have often been made to feel inadequate. It's high time we tackle this matter without inhibitions. Through this collaboration, we hope to create a community of users who can support and offer viable solutions to break stigmas related to mental health and motivate individuals to freely express themselves," said Mr.Nitin Saluja, Director, Public Policy (India) at TikTok.

"With this #UnmuteYourself challenge, we aim to encourage TikTok users to create videos that are essentially personalized action plans for people wishing to take early action to improve their mental wellbeing. This is part of our ongoing commitment towards empowering our users to take care of their mental health," Mr Saluja further added.

"Mobile phone and social media apps are strong tools to empower and spread positivity. We look forward to more such initiatives from trusted brands like Fortis Healthcare and TikTok," said Mr Shubham Gupta, Head of Storytelling at PLUC.