Rahul Dravid to be part of Rajasthan Royals' initiative on mental health and well-being

Royal Rajasthan Foundation, the social impact arm of Rajasthan Royals is proud to team up with its legendary former batsman Rahul Dravid, McLean Hospital, (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School) and Dr. N.S. Vahia Foundation to advocate for removing stigma around mental health conversations, raising awareness about the impact mental illness can have on ones mind, body and soul.

The Royal Conversations -- Mind, Body and Soul," a three-part series on mental health and wellbeing will cover aspects around mind, body, and soul over weekly webinars.

World Health Organization (WHO) accounts mental illnesses for 30 % of all non-fatal diseases approximately and 10 % of the overall global diseases. In India, approximately 7.5% of the population suffers from some form of mental disorder, while the people who are able to receive treatment hovers around the 70% mark.

The importance of mental illnesses in these times has been brought to the forefront with many people across various sects in the country facing issues and challenges in this current lockdown situation.

Through the three-part series, Royal Rajasthan Foundation wishes to encourage discussions around mental health and remove barriers by disseminating vital information that will help people around the world learn and address the issues that impact their mental being.

Dravid has in the past addressed how mental health can be an issue at a very young age too and needs to be dealt with utmost professional care. Through his work at the National Cricket Academy, Dravid has outlined a structure focussed on grassroots cricket development wherein discussions over mental health occur from time to time and players get an opportunity to get guidance by experts.

The first session launches on Wednesday and will see Rajasthan Royals' head Physiotherapist, John Gloster along with Ipsit Vahia (N.S. Vahia Foundation) and Lisa Coyne (McLean Hospital). The medical professionals will be joined by a special guest in Rahul Dravid, a Royals legend and former captain during the first session. The cricketer will bring with himself case studies from the sporting world in order to generate awareness about the importance of mental wellbeing for happiness and positive attitude.

Rajasthan Royals' Executive Chairman, Ranjit Barthakur expressed his delight on the launch of the new initiative, "It's fantastic to be launching a product you truly believe in. The idea behind this initiative is to talk about how people need to change their focus on beliefs around mental health.

"Positive mindset is the necessity for wellbeing and happiness and sports is a great enabler to generate awareness around mental anxiety. These are unprecedented times and more than ever, this is time we need people to be strong in mind to fight the battle against Covid and emerge with a stronger mindset post Covid."

The further sessions will be held on June 3 and 10. The concluding session for this series on June 10 will see Royals' Indian pacer Varun Aaron.

Scott J. O'Brien, Director, McLean's newly launched Public Education initiative, & co-founder of the Deconstructing Stigma initiative , Mclean Hospital Boston USA, said: "McLean is very excited to be collaborating with the Royal Rajasthan Foundation on this initiative. We very much admire their passion around mental health education and look forward to working together to increase awareness around the importance of brain health."