A message from the founder...
People often ask me why I care so deeply about mental health, why I have such a passion for advocacy and awareness. I always find myself replying with the same one sentence answer, "Because I understand." To be quite honest, a few years ago, I didn't give much thought to mental health. To me, mental health was a silent character, a distant voice in the background; physical health always seemed more important, more present, more "visible." I could not have been more wrong. In 2020, my school closed down due to the pandemic. It was all fun and games, waking up late, having less homework, at first. I soon found myself going down this spiral of boredom, lonliness, and unhappiness. I had my family but we were still isolated from the rest of the world. It was then, for the first time, I was exposed to real mental health struggles and challenges, of those surrounding me, my family and my friends, but most of all, myself.
As I became more invested in mental health, I realized how incredibly difficult it is for so many people, especially young children and teens, to actually seek and obtain help for their mental health. Ask me why? Stigma. Stigma and a lack of education. The world, or at least a good chunk of the world, doesn't even know what mental health or mental health wellbeing is, or what it means to be struggling with your mental health; subsequently, they also believe that anyone who is suffering from a mental illness or difficulty, is abnormal, and that the words "mental health" should be taboo. I created this organization because I wanted to be a part of a movement. The movement to break down the immense stigma surrounding mental health, the movement to raise mental health awareness, the movement to shape our society around the notion that mental health is just as important as physical health.
I hope my organization will serve as inspiration for others to get involved, to be the change, to help break down the stigma, for parents or caregivers to truly understand and support their children, and to serve as a reminder for kids and teens like me, that they are never alone.
Let's talk about mental health.
- Tanisha Mehta