"Break For Surgery Is Fine, Then Why Not Mental Fatigue?": Mental Health Expert Neerja Birla

Injuries and fitness issues are part of the sporting ecosystem, but India is still struggling to accommodate mental health concerns in the same paradigm. Whenever a player gets injured, he or she takes a break and undergoes rehab before making a return on the field. But, if a player asks for a break over mental fatigue, the acceptance level is quite low. Though mental fatigue in sport isn't a phenomenon that is accepted by everyone across the world, its acceptance is considerably lower in India. In an exclusive chat with NDTV, Mrs. Neerja Birla – Founder and Chairperson of Mpower, the mental health initiative of Aditya Birla Education Trust -- spoke about this topic at length.

Mrs. Birla, it's only been a few days since the Paris Olympics concluded and the Indian contingent returned with a total of six medals. But why does a country with a population of over 1.4 billion people get just six medals in Olympic Games? Is it just a lack of skill or does mentality also have a role to play?

Definitely, mentality has a huge role to play. And, you know, everybody, of course, puts in a lot of hard work so that you're able to build your competency or skill. So there is a lot of hard work that goes into it.

But the mentality comes into the picture multiple times. One is, of course, the entire bit when you're training, because even during the whole process of training, which in itself is very rigorous, needs a lot of hard work, dedication, consistency, and discipline, which in itself is very tough.

So to sustain that level of training, to train for something like the Olympics, it needs a very strong mindset. And then, of course, the mentality comes into play when you're actually on the court, in the field, and actually playing the