A safe space to address mental health struggles

Illustration: Oishik Jawad

Shunbo is an anonymous mental health support group in Bangladesh, which encourages people to speak freely about mental health. It was inaugurated on July 5, 2020, amid the pandemic. Shunbo started off as the brainchild of six university students, Mohammad Samiur Rahman, Shams Mahfuz Arnob, M. Rakinul Islam, Vishal Agarwal, Abrar Islam and Ishraq Islam. Five of them are from North South University and one of them is from Independent University, Bangladesh.

The support group sessions maintain anonymity, making for a judgment-free environment where participants do not have to worry about being stigmatised amid a crowd. Individuals can also participate by just listening. "Watching my loved ones go through their fair share of mental health struggles, and not being able to take the first step due to the social stigma surrounding mental health issues in Bangladesh, I knew I needed to do something to bring about a change," shared Abrar Islam.

Shunbo started off as the brainchild of six university students.

So far, Shunbo has successfully hosted a total of 22 support group meetings, catering to 5,000 patrons. The meetings have been moderated by their advisor, Rezwana Sultana (B.Sc. in Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology, University of Dhaka), a professional mental health counselor. These sessions are free of charge.

Some listeners share via the Anonymous Post option in the official Facebook group of Shunbo, or by interacting through texts in the virtual meeting rooms, which are then read aloud by the moderator during the sessions. Besides personal stories of struggle, Shunbo is dedicated towards growing its platform and make space for art, poetry, music, and any other forms of expression to address mental health struggles. "During a low point in my life, I found myself searching for a platform where I could really open up and share about my struggles. This gave birth to the idea of Shunbo for me, and of course, worked as an encouragement to bring it to fruition," said Vishal Agarwal.

Shunbo's first batch of 35 volunteers share a passion for mental health advocacy. The platform is still welcoming volunteers from every front, in response to an ever-growing community, with plans to expand beyond raising awareness about mental health, by actively combatting the stigmas attached to mental health issues. "I like writing about things that are stigmatized, and need to be talked about. The fight against mental health taboos in Bangladesh has a long way to go, I'm glad to be able to do my small part in it," said Tanisha Samreen, a volunteer working for Shunbo.

"Volunteering at Shunbo has allowed me to incorporate my designing skills into something I am passionate about, raising mental health awareness and mental health advocacy," added Al Minhaz Alvee.

Today, the platform's affiliations include the likes of Oroddho, another mental health organisation, and Sholok, a Bengali digital magazine. It is also actively working with international entities. The list of webinars they partook in discussed topics such as Self-Compassion: Healing Starts Within by Shunbo, Mental Health Issues by NSU Talks, Office of Student Affairs - North South University, Mental Health for All: A Panel Discussion by Moner School, and the upcoming Self-Care: A Human Necessity by Shunbo.

Shunbo aims to provide 360-degree mental health solutions to the Bangladeshi population by introducing an app, through which people can book appointments with professional mental health counsellors, play interactive games, find a community by reading experiences of other individuals going through similar struggles and join support group meetings. The platform intends to adapt a holistic approach to the ongoing dialogue of mental health in Bangladesh. Shunbo is also looking forward to unveiling a website that will cater to its patrons, providing all facilities like their app.

The author is a freelance journalist and a Marketing and International Business student from North South University. Write to her at iamsadiatahsin@gmail.com.