By Muammar Hadi Marzuki
GOMBAK, 19 October 2023: “I want to empower you to speak up,” mentioned the founder of Seek to Speak, Ain Aissa Mohamad at the interactive discussion session on Tuesday (17 October 2023).
On its official Facebook page, Seek to Speak is described as ‘A public speaking podcast and blog which aims to empower people to express themselves through speech!’
In accordance with World Mental Health Week 2023, that is held from 16 October to 20 October 2023, an interactive session was conducted by Ain to raise students’ awareness of mental health in the Human Sciences Square of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).
Ain prepared many activities and the students that participated shared their thoughts and opinions with other students in the audience at the end of each activity.
“There is still a big stigma around men and mental health which makes them not ask for help,” claimed Aqayshea Anaqin binti Farez.
“I feel less lonely and it feels nice seeing people around me relating with my struggles,” said Iliya Maisara binti Mamat.
“Telling people you’re okay is not enough because only you know the struggles you’re going through,” said Muhammad Nazrul Mohamed Noor.
“Being vulnerable around people you don’t know is mentally tedious but you have to do it,” mentioned Dora Zeti Binti Azmi.
Ain explained that the emotions the students shared are actually universal and felt by everyone at a certain point in their lives, thus they need to start showing more gratitude to others to feel better.
“I encourage you to show gratitude to someone else because it can actually make you feel better than the person that receives gratitude,” she added.
On a final note, she thanked the students for showing courage and reminded them to not be ashamed of sharing their feelings because what they do and think is a combination of who they are.
She then thanked the students for being part of the interactive session as well as the organizer of the interactive session, that is The Secretariat of Psychology (PSYCSTA) for inviting her.
The interactive session was attended by students from various Departments of the AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (AHAS KIRKHS) of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). ***
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