ITC Fiama launches initiative to lead conversations on mental well-being

In the conundrum of everyday life, stress, anxiety, anger, happiness, sad, love are all emotions and moods that are experienced and dominate the mind state. Every decision or action is often tied to our mental state. But these emotions and moods rarely discussed, explored for understanding or conversed upon. This World Mental Health Day, ITC Fiama launches MyHappimess, an initiative designed to encourage conversations, explore the everyday emotions that go through the human mind and drive awareness around mental well-being and health. The brand with its philosophy of mood upliftment transcends from “Joy of Bathing” to “Joy of Living” with this launch.

In an endeavour to understand the changing attitude and behaviour of Indians towards mental health and well-being, ITC Fiama with Nielsen, a leading market research company, conducted one of India’s largest online surveys on Mental Health. Over 700 individuals between the age of 18-45 years, men and women, across 15 cities in India participated in the survey. The study revealed that 77% individuals feel conversations around mental health and wellbeing is not adequate; 87% said metal health is at least as important as physical health; more than 80% said that the lockdown has negatively impacted their mental well-being; nearly 1 in 4 young Indians feel that mental health issues can start as early as the teens; 70% of young Indians under the age of 25 have had issues with mental wellbeing and many such facts.

With this as the premise, ITC Fiama in collaboration with expert NGO MINDS foundation has designed and curated the MyHappimess initiative. MINDS Foundation has been providing mental health literacy programs, case management and access to care since 2010. The vision is to create a relevant platform that fosters a shared approach to mental wellness. MyHappimess, offers curated content designed to uplift and manage different moods through sounds, movement, meditation, nutrition and affirmations. It provides a social medium to deal with negative mood states like anger, stress, anxiety and also enhance positive mood states like self-love and Happiness.

Dr. Raghu Appasani, a Psychiatrist and Founder/CEO of the MINDS Foundation states, “We all have mental health issues and at any point in time, we are somewhere on that spectrum.” He explains that the rise in mental illness has exponentially grown in the past decade and observes, “We all are impacted by mental health distress at some point, whether we are rich, poor, young, or old; therefore, we must all become literate in the language of mental health to create an empathetic and compassionate approach to allow those suffering to no longer feel left in the dark.”

Sameer Satpathy, Divisional Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Limited said, “Stress is a commonly understood and widely experienced term. There are simple things that we often try to do to help alleviate this stress but rarely do we engage in conversations on this. The Fiama-Nielsen survey to understand the changing attitude and behavior towards mental health corroborates this need to enhance conversations. Fiama with MyHappimess embarks on a purposeful journey to encourage mental well-being as a more proactive routine in everyday life.”

As part of MyHappimess initiative on the World Mental Health Day, Fiama presents a special video with singer and songwriter Lisa Mishra. The video urges everyone to #SayMoreThanOkay and celebrate the many moods that make one unique. The musical narrative brings to light that fact as individuals one is never just okay. With the emotions of happy, stressed, excited, nervous, etc. there is always so much more. The uplifting video song in an authentic presentation of emotions, encourages acceptance of one’s true self to begin the journey of mental well-being.

Conceptualised by Schbang

Written and performed by Lisa Mishra