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US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy has said that mental health is an issue on which his country and India can work together, so that it not only benefits the two countries, but the entire world.

He said it is time to prioritise and accelerate the work on mental health, because the consequences have been too high, and they will only get worse unless we make this issue a priority.

“I’ll just say this (mental health) is an issue where the US and India can work together, where we can learn from each other, where we can collaborate on programmes, where we can support each other, as we have in the past for six decades, on so many health issues,” Murthy told reporters here on Friday.

He said he was proud of the US-India health partnership for six decades, during which both countries have worked on smallpox, polio, HIV, tuberculosis and Covid-19, and many other health challenges.

“This is a time for us to come together as two nations, to work on the issue of mental health, and the work that we do together can not only benefit our two countries, but can benefit the entire world. So I’m looking forward to what we can do together,” he said.

Appointed by President Joe Biden, Murthy serves as the “America’s Top Doctor” and is charged with promoting and protecting public health. He is the first Surgeon General of Indian descent, and his parents hail from Karnataka.

Highlighting that during his visit to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) here there was discussion on numerous areas of collaboration that are already underway, he said the US and various health centres in the US government agencies are helping to support and fund research projects, and in some cases, collaboratively execute research projects focused on mental health.

“We’re proud of that collaboration, and there are more ideas for how that collaboration can grow in the future, we have a lot that we can learn from each other. We have a lot that we can do with one another, and we talked about many of those challenges and spaces today….” he said.

Noting that the reason he made this trip was to focus on mental health, Murthy said, “It is becoming increasingly clear that we are living through a growing mental health crisis… it’s hitting young people particularly hard.” For too long, this has been an issue that we haven’t talked about openly, he said. “There’s been this unfortunate stigma and shame associated with mental health that prevents people from admitting that they’re having a hard time. It makes it difficult for them to ask for help, even when that help is available.” Pointing out that during this visit, he spent time in Delhi, in Mumbai, and Bengaluru with students, community organisations, hospitals and healthcare providers, and learned how India is experiencing and responding to mental health crisis, he said, “What I heard were about three important contributors that people are seeing in their lives that contribute to this mental health crisis. One was loneliness and isolation, which have become epidemics in the United States and around the world.” “The second was the impact of social media on young people, and the third was the pressure that so many students say they are facing now, pressure which too often feels overwhelming and unbearable,” he said.

Observing that mental health is no less important than physical health, and it ultimately influences physical health as well, the U.S Surgeon General said it’s time to prioritise access to care, which continues to be a global challenge, and to focus on prevention, on getting at the root causes of what’s driving this broader mental health challenge.

“In medicine, we focus a lot on treatment and often not enough on prevention. This is a time where we can’t afford to do that. We have to do both,” he said, as he highlighted that there’s a lot of promising work underway, and that has given him hope.

Pointing out that social media has fundamentally changed the way we talk to each other and how we relate to one another, Murthy, citing from his interaction with students, said: “One of the consequences that we’ve seen is of the digital transformation of relationships, but it’s something that we now need to address. We need to proactively build those social and emotional skills, relational skills for students.” Advocating for legislative policy efforts to make social media safer, he said, “The policy changes that I’ve called for, apply to the United States of America, but the problem of social media, and its impact on youth mental health is being felt by many countries. I think it’s important for all of us in our countries to examine this issue more deeply and ask ourselves, what can we do to ultimately protect children? And it has to go beyond just telling kids and parents to do better…

“…unless we make the platform safer, this is going to be hard for parents and kids to manage on their own,” he added.

On World Mental Health Day, much of the world witnessed a rare sighting — the Aurora Borealis (or the Northern Lights). If you experienced the Northern Lights firsthand like I did, you probably had an overwhelming sensation of awe and wonder. A fleeting, momentary sense of being connected to everything and everyone. That unexpected and transcendent sensation you felt is similar to what scientists and astronauts call “The Overview Effect,” and it can profoundly influence your mental health and stress for the better.

Astronauts frequently describe feelings of awe and wonder as part of the Overview Effect when they’re out in space and looking down below at Planet Earth. It’s a perception shift that can be sudden, transformative, and lasting. As Rachel Lyons, executive director of the nonprofit Space for Humanity, explained during a TedX talk: “It turns out that when astronauts go to space and look back down at our planet, and see it as a floating, interconnected, fragile ball of life in this infinite universe, it causes a transformation in their mind, a cognitive shift called the Overview Effect.”

If you were skygazing with me, you probably felt some of those big emotions, too.

As I witnessed the Northern Lights dancing in the sky along with millions of other skygazers around the world earlier this week, I was overtaken by the same sudden and unexpected wave of complex emotions associated with the Overview Effect: wonder, awe, connectedness, and belonging. If you were skygazing with me, you probably felt some of those big emotions, too.

As a doctor specializing in stress, burnout, and mental health, I’ve been fascinated with the science of awe and wonder, especially how these emotions influence your brain, health, and well-being. Studies show that awe and wonder help decrease your ruminations about everyday problems and stresses, helping you focus on things outside yourself and feel more connected to others. Early science also suggests a direct relationship between awe and stress. In a series of six different experiments, scientists studied the relationship between awe and stress and found that awe can actively decrease your stress because it puts everyday stresses into perspective and leads to improved well-being.

A shift in perspective is exactly what witnessing the Northern Lights felt like, made especially more poignant because it was World Mental Health Day. You may have missed seeing the Northern Lights, and most of us will never get a chance to go into space, but you can still reap the benefits of the emotions of awe, wonder, and connectedness associated with the Overview Effect through your everyday activities.

Spend a few minutes watching the expanse of a big sky at sunrise or sunset, immerse yourself in a piece of music or art that transports you, walk or hike through a local forest or nearby beach, and if you can’t spend quality time in nature, consider experiencing it digitally through a nature-focused video or an audio recording. Each week, aim to do one thing that cultivates your sense of awe and wonder. These small acts can feel therapeutic to your stressed brain and lead to better mental health, because research shows “awe repairs . . . and transforms your sense of self.” In our current state of the world, which feels so broken and divided, a little repair could go a long way.

Aditi Nerurkar (she/her), MD, is a Harvard stress expert, a television correspondent, and the author of “The 5 Resets.” Before becoming a physician, Dr. Nerurkar was a stressed patient looking for answers. Once she found her way out of stress, she vowed to become the doctor she needed. Named one of the 100 Women to Know in America for 2024, she’s a frequent keynote speaker, with talks at the 2018 Forbes Under 30 Summit and other events. Dr. Nerurkar is a PS Council member.