Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Forever Blooming Blog. It’s been a while, but I am back. I hope you have been taking care of yourselves and listening to our episodes. Today, we are going to recap our fifth episode, an extremely special one. In this episode, our host, Jordyn, along with our co-host, Insha, talk about teen activism and intersectionality with two wonderful guests, Sophia and Crystal, from an organization called Each Mind. Each Mind is a youth-led mental health organization that takes a different approach towards mental health and works on changing the mindset around mental health through various ways like advocacy and activism involving the youth. Grab a cup of coffee and a snack, and let’s dive in!
Image Credit: Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong
Firstly, let’s learn a little bit more about Each Mind and our guests for this episode, Sophia and Crystal!
Crystal Widado, the writing director of Each Mind, does a lot of mental health activism work through journalism and her school’s mental health club. She is passionate about general political advocacy and public speaking as well.
Our second guest, Sophia Isabella, is on Each Mind’s social media team. She has been advocating for mental health awareness since 7th grade. She is dedicated to helping people struggling with their mental health and destroying the stigma around mental health.
Each Mind mainly uses its quarterly magazine, blog posts, and social media to advocate for the importance of mental health awareness, defeating mental health stigma, and having more conversations that revolve around mental health. Their recent goals include focusing on how mental health is talked about, changing the discussions around it, being more inclusive and accepting, and being more progressive in discussions around mental health. They post a lot of infographics, information about various mental health disorders, and comic strips that portray intersectionality on their social media pages. The purpose of Each Mind is to spread the message that everybody matters and each mind is represented and cared for. I am sure that you are convinced to check out and support Each Mind.
Image Credit: Futures Without Violence
Let’s now move on to this episode’s main topic of why teen activism is important and what kind of significance it has on the youth.
In today’s age, we have numerous resources for speaking and standing up for what we believe in, don’t we? From sexism to climate change, there are a lot of social issues to be worried about. It is quite difficult to be apathetic towards these issues. Teens possess a lot of power, and they can make a huge difference if they raise their voices. Unfortunately, when we wish to do something about a problematic situation, we are posed with tons of demoralizing statements like, “You’re not really ready for much,” “Don’t form too many stances/opinions,” and “They’ll change, they’ll shift.” Have you ever been challenged like this? Let us know in the comments below.
In spite of such discouraging statements, we are expected to keep doing everything that we need to do and be perfect in everything that we do. As young people, if we are not given the liberty to formulate ideas/perceptions and act upon them, we won’t be able to have a strong mindset and grow up as intellectual adults. Have opinions about what you are passionate about, what you think would make an impact in the world. Don’t get demotivated by society’s stereotypes and taunts.
Let’s go a little deeper and understand how exactly teen mental health activists play a role in mental health activism. Since the pandemic began, a plethora of problems has arisen. We haven’t been able to go to school, meet our friends, or have social interactions. People have lost their loved ones to this global pandemic. Low-income families have been facing financial difficulties. The list is endless. During this period, many of us have found our mental health going downhill. Teen mental health activists, however, have talked about their experiences in these challenging times, giving us a source of courage and hope. Furthermore, teens often feel undervalued. Being able to have a voice contributes to a community of change and can definitely make an impact. In this way, diverse opinions come into play during community decisions, changing society’s ideas.
Image Credit: Laoms.Org
The last segment of our episode is about intersectionality and its connection to mental health. In basic terms, intersectionality puts forth the concept that all oppression is linked. Be it racism, sexism, or sexuality, the interconnected nature of these social categorizations gives birth to linked systems of discrimination. How is intersectionality intertwined with mental health though?
Mental health is connected to many parts of our lives. For example, in many parts of the world, healthcare systems fail to provide appropriate treatments and care for people suffering from mental illnesses. People of color may even face racism in healthcare. We must look at mental health not just from one perspective but as a whole from different communities and backgrounds. Acknowledging intersectionality allows us to find the roots of the problems that people of different backgrounds might go through and help improve the condition that they are in right now.
We need mental health activism applied in more corners and aspects of society. There are a lot of distractions that make us believe that mental health is only about individualistic gain. Individuality can be recognized more officially when we have systems that are actually protecting us. That’s why we should take the opposite direction and talk about intersectionality, which corporations don’t want to hear about.
Image Credit: Nathats Hjalpen
Intersectionality is extremely important in mental health, but there’s a lack of recognition regarding minorities experiencing mental health issues because they are always suppressed. For instance, consider the following statistics: 13% of the American population is African-American, and 16% of them were diagnosed with a mental illness. That would be about 7 million African-American people that are suffering from a diagnosable mental health issue. 82% of the AAPI community reports suicidal thoughts, and 40% of them have attempted suicide. About 39% of them have had sensory processing disorders. We need to recognize that minorities do experience mental health issues just like everyone else.
That brings us to the end of today’s podcast recap. If you want to hear us talk more about intersectionality, please tune into our future episode about minority and mental health, which is going to release on the 5th of September!
I hope you enjoyed learning more about teen activism and intersectionality. Don’t forget to check out Each Mind. They have a lot of exciting projects coming up and so do we. Until then, take care!
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