Mental health awareness with stamps

Have you ever wondered what could stamps of the yore say about mental health?

…well, Meena Mutha did!

A stamp collector by hobby and a mental health community service provider by profession, Meena combined her hobby with her deep interest in mental health to bring more awareness about the topic in an intriguing manner. A unique perspective, indeed. With her work, one learns about the historical events that shaped societal perspectives of mental health and famous personalities who didn’t let their mental conditions define them. In a metaphorical sense, stamps do speak! And when listener is someone like Meena, they speak loud and clear!

About Meena Mutha:

Meena is the founding trustee of Manav Foundation – a mental health charitable trust in India registered since 2004. She holds an MS diploma in psychotherapy.

Over the past four decades, she has been volunteering for various reformations across social and environmental causes. She has volunteered for a variety of social impact causes such as helping special-needs children and child adoption, reforming prisons, development & distribution of artificial limbs called Jaipur foot, and more.

Stamp collecting is her hobby and she has participated in numerous national & international philately exhibitions. Her exhibitions center around themes such as mental health, education, environment, differently abled people (disability), invisible disability, Jainisim and Jain philosophy.

Genesis of the idea:

She recalls, when the first time she shared the idea of using a stamp exhibit to bring light to mental health, no one took her seriously. Some of her philately friends went to the extent of discouraging her and suggesting that she shouldn’t pursue this topic further. However, her strong conviction and care about mental health helped her stay firm on the idea.

Initially, she searched mental health related postal stamps issued by different countries, which turned out to be rather few. From her experiences, a stamp exhibition would generally have content for roughly 40 A3 sized pages. This was a challenge with the limited stamps she had found so far. So she decided to have a more structured approach by forming a storyline and sub-topics for which relevant stamps could be searched. She wondered though, what the storyline could be, and at that phase having no one to talk about it was her biggest challenge. Over time, she shared the idea with some connections in psychiatry and counselling groups. They talked about the sickness or therapy angle but could not relate the subject with philately. Eventually, it was Binaifer Jesia, a technical director at Manav Foundation, who could understand her passion and provide her a direction. With that and a lot of effort put in researching, collecting stamps and building a story arc, Meena is now happy that things finally worked out and her exhibition is ready. She even got awarded for her work by the Philatelic Society of New Zealand.

What’s next?

For Meena, the journey doesn’t end here. She would like to improve the work and aim for more recognition as well but more importantly, she wants to spread awareness about mental health through her work – informing people about the importance and relevance of mental health on our lives, the cultural sensitivity that surrounds it and in general bringing more empathy towards it! The article presented by Swanlok is one such attempt at spreading her message.

Meena Mutha

When hobby & devotion come together, one develops a unique perspective. So I combined my devotion to mental health with stamp collection hobby and created this exhibit adhering to the Federation Internationale de Philatelie format.

Let’s talk about mental health – Starting the conversation

A stamp exhibition with narration, Copyrights © Meena Mutha

Preface

Abraham Lincoln

Churchill at old age with stick | Umm Al Viwain – 75NP

Cafe Terrace at Night, Still life with Decanter and Lemons on a plate, Self portrait and Skull | Grenada

150th Death Anniversary of Beethoven, Denomination- 1c and 1-2c Mint | Dominica

Albert Einstein stamp issue in 1905 on the occasion of philately day | Jerusalem

Frame 1

Preface: Learn about Meena’s goal for the exhibition along with her views on mental health and background of the project.

Beyond preface, this section also contains the first few topics such as covid times, famous personalities, holocaust – Nazi’s killings and the World War.

Tidbits about famous personalities: These stamps take us through the lives of famous individuals who didn’t let their mental condition define them. These are people who battled some form of mental illness such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, major depression and more. Among these, Meena talks about US presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, other political leaders such as Churchill, artists like Vincent Van Gogh, musicians like Beethoven and scientists like Einstein!

View in detail

Frame 2

In this section, Meena covers a wide range of topics such as cruelties during wars & oppressive times, mental health related views of great philosophers of the yore, religions & myths and the horrifying solutions that were once considered medical treatments for severe mental disorders, such as lobotomy & blood letting.

Tidbits about Wars and Oppressions:
Covering sensitive topics such as The great depression, Operation Cornflakes and even systemic elimination of psychiatric patients during the Nazi times. These stamps demonstrate the depths of human cruelty and the dangers of racism, bigotry, prejudice, along with their impact on human minds for generations to come!

View in detail

A. Hitler stamp – German Philately Souvenir sheet 1937

Monument to the victims of Fascism

Swastika Cancellation of Glabach Bergisch, Berlin

WWI -Mesopotamia, East Africa India MS stamps Issued year – 2019

International Holocaust Day | Israel, 27.1.2010

Patrick Henry – Silk Cachet cover | 23rd March 1975
Post mark Richmond. VV, US. Depicted one of his famous speeches

Hebrew Asylum Cover, commercially used, 1870 | Post mark New York City

Postal cover of Municipal Hospital, Post mark 1897, Ville Lyon – a mental asylum of that time, now turned into a
cultural center with green spaces

1955 cancelation of Bournemouth, another cancellation of Birmingham.

Frame 3

Continuing with religious myths, this next section takes us through the genesis of asylums and the impact of institutionalisation on mental health. It also covers stamps about psychiatric treatment, nursing, evolutions and human services.

Tidbits about Asylums and Institutionalisation:
In the 16th and 17th centuries, most countries had alms houses or jails where mentally ill people used to be sent to. The stamps here take us through asylum times and reforms pushed to make a change in societal approach towards mental patients.

View in detail

Frame 4

With advancement in medical understanding of mental health, this section covers stamps about psychology including measurements such as suicide prevention, insurances for mental health, psychoanalysis, human mind and behaviour understanding, psychiatric advancements etc.

View in detail

Carl Jung – Psychoanalyst | Monaco Issued in 2021 | 3,00€
Used post card 1979

Jean Ovide, a psychologist | Belgium

Nic Waal, a psychiatrist | Norway post, 2005

Suicide Lifeline | China 1995

Cancellation of World Mental health day | India

Hess Walter Rudolf, Schweizer, Endocrinologist

Rheumatism & joint pain also relate to psychological factors due to mental health issues

Old age couple image, Red cross sign | France 1977

Maharishi Patanjali Commemorative stamp, Depicting Herbs medicine, Yoga sutra and Yoga

Bhasker V Gokhale | India, 2019, ₹5

Ayurveda Center, Kottakkal | India 2002, ₹5

Try a little kindness, a booklet depicting generosity, consideration & kindness

Frame 5

In this final frame, apart from old age and related mental disorders, Meena takes us through stamps of alternative therapies through naturopathy, yoga and ayurveda. It further goes in the direction of more evolved understanding on mental health, the role of endocrinologist and finally emphasising the importance of communication.

View in detail

Inspired?

Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below!

Have you ever wondered what could stamps of the yore say about mental health?

About Meena Mutha:

Genesis of the idea:

What’s next?

Let’s talk about mental health – Starting the conversation

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Frame 4

Frame 5

Inspired?

Shrikirti Tiwari

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