Mumbai, India – For the commemoration of the World Mental Health Day last 10 October, Indian bank IDFC First Bank, which is part of the larger financial group Infrastructure Development Finance Company, has launched its latest social media campaign dedicated to promoting mental health – none other than by the use of financial terms.
Conceptualized by digital agency RepIndia, the campaign utilizes said language to present a new meaning from a mental health perspective. For instance, the term ‘investment’ is defined in the campaign as “therapy to ensure that you’re not subject to any mental health risk,” and ‘loan’ being defined as “lending an ear with interest”.
“By thus connecting commonly used financial terms with mental health issues and solutions, IDFC FIRST Bank hopes to be able to remove the stigma and taboo surrounding mental health conversations and drive significant conversations,” the bank said in a press statement.
In a statement given to MARKETECH APAC, RepIndia stated that the campaign aimed to talk about mental health from a way of investing in oneself with the goal of normalizing the conversation just like financial security is already commonly practiced in our society.
“The goal was to redefine the way we look at mental health from the perspective of financial terms that are more commonly present in our vocabulary,” the agency stated.
Said sentiment of normalizing talks on mental health stems from the fact that the aspect of mental health advocacy remains stigmatized and in a ‘crisis.
“While financial reports have suggested that 70% of Indians now place greater emphasis on securing the future by increasing investments and savings, the mental health pandemic the nation is battling with continues to remain a crisis,” the agency stated.
The World Mental Health Day was first started as an initiative back in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization, which aimed at promoting mental health advocacy, as well as educating the public. For this year, the observance of said date revolved around the theme ‘Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality’.
