Anagha Rajesh guest edits mental health issue of Assembly
(Courtesy of Anagha Rajesh)
Warning: This mental health-themed issue mentions depression, anxiety, eating disorders, body dysmorphia and gender-based violence, which could be triggering to some readers.
Hello, Assembly readers! My name is Anagha Rajesh. I’m a 19-year-old undergraduate student hailing from India and raised in the UAE. As a young woman who has constantly drawn inspiration from Malala, I’m honored to be the guest editor of this special mental health-focused issue of Assembly.
Around the world, one in seven young people between the ages of 10–19 experiences a mental health disorder. Stigmas around mental health, a lack of accessible resources and the high cost of professional support are some of the difficulties they may encounter on their mental health journeys.
In 2019 I founded my organization, Yours Mindfully, to make the world a safer place to talk about mental health. Our e-magazine provides young people with a platform to speak up about mental health issues through articles, poems and works of art and amplifies the research of mental health experts. Through our work with psychologists, we offer free therapy sessions for young people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to counseling. Our team organizes workshops to help educate young people on mental health conditions and partners with like-minded organizations to push for the inclusion of mental health in school curriculums.
Through my work with Yours Mindfully, I have had the opportunity to connect with young people across the world and hear about the ways they’re addressing mental health challenges in their communities. They’re dismantling stigmas that prevent other students from speaking out about mental illness. They’re sharing their experiences to encourage one another to seek help. They’re pushing for mental health care that is free and accessible to all. It is these stories that fuel me and my team at Yours Mindfully to keep building safe spaces, amplifying uncommon narratives and pushing for accessibility.
This special issue of Assembly features girls and young women around the world opening up about their experiences with mental health and sharing advice and resources for looking after your mental and emotional well-being.
“Today, we celebrate the power of stories to dismantle stigmas around mental illness and help us feel less alone.”
In today’s newsletter, we publish a toolkit on how to care for your mental health while you advocate for others — made with input from girls like you (including some of my Yours Mindfully team members!). Crafted from deeply personal experiences and put together with tenderness and compassion, this guide is a go-to mental health resource for young women activists across the world.
Also in this issue, 17-year-old Lebanese student Abir Fakih writes about how social anxiety disorder (SAD) has affected her life and her advice for other young women who suffer from the condition. Students from Canada, India, Indonesia and Pakistan share how they look after their mental health. Mahrukh S.M., an aspiring writer from Pakistan, discusses the stigma around female rage and the toll it takes on girls’ and women’s mental health. And Mexican student María Fernanda opens up about her experience with body dysmorphia and eating disorders and how misconceptions about both are harming young women (this article is available in Spanish).
Today, we celebrate the power of stories to dismantle stigmas around mental illness and help us feel less alone. I hope the amazing young women in this issue inspire you to reach out for help if you need it, support your classmates who may be struggling and — if you feel ready — to tell your story too.
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