Abstract for symposium- ANCIPS 2022-Vizag

We, the following, propose to conduct a symposium on “Positive mental health by embracing arts: personal perspectives”, at ANCIPS 2022, Vizag, Vishakhapatnam. Positive mental health, keeping in with Keyes’s terminology, is a combination of subjective well-being and of being fully functional, thereby, encompassing both positive feelings and positive functioning. This definition integrates 2 distinct aspects- the hedonistic one ,emphasizing feelings of pleasure or happiness and also the eudemonic one , which relies on behavior and thoughts providing engagement and fulfillment. As individual approaches towards this concept vary, so also the mean towards this goal of positive mental health become more perspective. In recent times, the pandemic also brought along with it a shadow epidemic of mental ill-health and distress , which tested the resilience and coping strategies of laity and health professionals alike. Mental health professionals too, though were not in the same proverbial boat, were in the same pandemic storm! So each of us , psychiatrists here, would like to share how we worked towards positive mental health of our own and others, by embracing some form of art and how it helped us cope with something which has hopefully ended, with new beginnings, for us as well!