India has the world’s largest population of young people ages 10-24, and mental health problems are the leading health concern for this group. Specific stressors owing from rapid changes in the body, school and exam related pressure, dealing with love and relationships and negotiating your space in a constantly changing online world – the silence and stigma around issues of gender and sexuality, violence and abuse, often leads to mental health challenges in this age group. The negative impacts of youth mental problems are starkly reflected in the strong association between poor adolescent mental health and long-term social disability, while suicide is the leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in India. At the same time, fewer than 10% of young Indians have access to formal mental health services, highlighting an urgent need to identify innovative strategies to promote mental health for this age group. Moreover, the stigma associated with mental health often becomes a deterrent for young people who are seeking mental healthcare.
We believe that talking about mental health is the first step to breaking the stigma. Therefore, ‘It’s Ok To Talk’ delivers a combination of community events and digital media co-designed with young people to raise awareness about mental health, aimed to enable a dialogue with young people around issues related to mental health and create safe spaces for discussion and dialogue. At the same time, we want young people to be at the centre of this dialogue and lead the campaign in their own social circles, colleges and institutes, and for young people who are passionate about mental health to come together and be catalysts for change in their own spaces. To achieve this, we launched the Youth Advocate Group (YAG) programme last year, which recruited ten young people who over the span of a few months, received training, mentorship and support to design, implement and evaluate mental health activities (talks, workshops, etc.) in their own communities. Through this, they not only created awareness and dialogue about mental health but also built their own capacity to address mental health problems and led advocacy programs.
“Being part of the YAG program was one of the best experiences of my life. The training we received enriched both my knowledge and shaped my personality. Our mentors were very supportive and understanding and helped us bring our ideas to life. But more than that, I met and interacted with a passionate group of people who gave me a strong sense of community and created bonds beyond the workplace. If you are passionate about young people’s mental health or talking about gender, sexuality and all the topics that are not covered in school, this is definitely a programme to consider,” says 20-year-old Paakhi Srivastava, a student at the University of Delhi.
We are recruiting for the second edition of the Youth Advocates Group (YAG), and the application is open till 25th November. The time to talk about mental health openly and honestly is NOW. And we need YOU to continue this conversation!
About It’s Ok To Talk:
It’s Ok To Talk is a public engagement campaign by Sangath, that works in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, and is supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK). The programme aims to engage young people in an open dialogue on mental health and build their capacities to deal with mental health challenges. It is an adolescent and youth-focused online and offline initiative that hopes to increase awareness and create dialogue around mental health issues.