At 12, Yamini and her family moved from India to the U.S. and the transition was very difficult. Her struggles to fit in combined with her mother’s battle with breast cancer pushed her into a vicious cycle of self-harm, bulimia, and depression. After attempting to take her life at the age of 13 Yamini realized that things had to change. Join ASHA Storyteller Yamini Rajan as she talks about her journey to wellness and the healing power of art with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International.

In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, Ryan Ho, Project Executive at Silver Ribbon Singapore had an in-depth conversation with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder & President of ASHA International about her journey from adversity to advocacy.

Hanna & Jaxon met in middle school and soon became best friends. Together, they have navigated through academics, relationships & mental health challenges. Throughout it all, their friendship has given them hope and helped them build resilient lives. Join ASHA Storytellers Hanna Kane & Jaxon Buell talk about the healing power of friendship with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International.

Adam knew he was gay from a very young age, but it took him over a decade and a half to admit it to both himself and those around him. He went through multiple episodes of depression, without realizing it was because he refused to accept essential parts of himself and share them with his friends and family. Once he learned how to become vulnerable, he realized how powerful it can be to operate from a place of radical vulnerability and not listen to shame. Join ASHA Storyteller & doctoral student Adam Pettitt as he talks about his journey to wellness and the healing power of vulnerability with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International.

As an eight-year-old Latina girl growing up in New York, Dior wrote in her dairy – “My life is over. My mother says no my life is not over. Well, I think so. The end.” Her parent’s divorce, domestic violence, threat of eviction and bullying at school filled her with despair. But her grandmother’s love sustained and inspired her to excel at school and become an activist. Today, Dior is a Latina Feminist Mental Health Activist advocating for equitable mental health care for all. She is the creator of the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo Project, a response to the invisibility of Black Indigenous People of Color in the media representation of mental illness. She is also the editor of The Color of My Mind, a photo essay book based on the photo project. Join Dior Vargas as she talks about the healing power of speaking your truth and her journey to wellbeing with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International. Learn more about Dior's work at www.diorvargas.com

Join award-winning author and activist Melody Moezzi talk with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International about the healing power of Rumi’s poetry to heal all of us despite our deeply divided and chaotic times. Learn more about Melody's work at www.melodymoezzi.com

Growing up gay and the youngest of four boys, Eric struggled with his identity, and felt trapped in a life that wasn't his. He started struggling with depression while in middle school and was on the verge of suicide his sophomore year in high school. Seeking therapy and connecting with a supporting group of peers changed his life and inspired him to start Live To Tell, a student-run suicide prevention nonprofit organization Join Eric as he talks with Gayathri Ramprasad, Founder of ASHA International about The Healing Power of Peers.

Kristina had a big secret! At 19, she was assaulted by a man who lived in the same apartment building. That was not the secret. She sought therapy to cope with the assault. That was the secret – a secret she feared would bring down the Wong family name. Most Chinese-Americans don’t talk about depression or seek therapy. Watch Kristina’s inspiring story as she dismantles cultural stigmas and stereotypes and advocates for culturally-responsive mental health care. Kristina Wong is an award-winning performance artist, comedian, mental health activist and writer. Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is her longest touring show about the high rates of depression and suicide among Asian American women, it is now a film distributed by Cinema Libre Studios. Learn more at www.kristinawong.com

I recently had an insightful and thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Vikram Patel on how to address inequities in mental health care and ensure mental health for all. Dr. Vikram Patel is The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Blavatnik Institute's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a co-founder of Sangath, an Indian NGO which won the MacArthur Foundation’s International Prize for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2008 and was listed in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential persons of the year in 2015. His accomplishments are far too many to mention.