Some of the key insights that emerged from these discussions include:

i) The communities in both villages showed an overall awareness of mind-body relation, emphasizing in layman terms, that our mind regulates what, when and how we perform actions, and is often governed by its own whims and desires. According to them, it is hard to control, feels a wide range of emotions, and its wellbeing is of utmost importance for a healthy life.

ii) Though not well-aware of the symptoms of mental illness, the participants appeared to notice mental and/or physical health challenges on the basis of physiological symptoms like a drawn face, absentmindedness, etc. or seemingly aberrant or disorderly behaviour like shouting and picking fights with neighbours, etc. This led the visiting team to conclude that, while different mental health issues potentially exist within these communities, the participants were only able to notice or recall a few specific, isolated cases which might have appeared extreme or noticeable to them.

iii) The communities experience near-constant eco-anxiety or anxiousness about the incidence and ferocity of ecological disasters. In the event of extreme weather phenomena, their topmost worries include damage and loss of their houses; embankment failure and flooding; the fear of being left homeless with their children; inability to secure work after a cyclonic storm; the wellbeing of their husbands and sons who, in the absence of adequate work opportunities at the local level, migrate to faraway places like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala for a livable wage; and uncertainty about the future.

iv) Migration of male members appears to be a source of significant emotional stress and worry within these communities. While the women emerge as de facto household heads in the absence of their migrant husbands and/or sons in the SBR, they harbor feelings of anxiety about the wellbeing of the migrants, especially after the horrific experiences of Covid-induced return migration, which they recall with terror and now associate with the uncertainty of life in migration destinations.

v) Substance abuse, specifically alcoholism and smoking tobacco, among and domestic violence against women and children appears to be widespread in these parts. According to the participants, causes for drinking range from inability to find work and poor mental health to peer pressure and as a cure for exhaustion after hard manual labour. Bouts of drinking are usually followed by episodes of violent behavior, physical, psychological, sexual and financial abuse, and harassment.

Team SOS looks forward to further explore these insights through group and personal discussions in subsequent visits for greater clarity, identify specific mental health challenges and capacity for support within the communities, and accordingly design a mental health action plan for the project with the community members. More updates soon! In the meantime, please share your thoughts and insights on this with us in the comment section below or write to us at soundofsilenceresearch@gmail.com because every voice matters and none must be silenced!