Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Sep 12, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #WomensMentalHealth, MentalHealthMatters
The Grit and Grace conference is for mental health providers, too. Together we can learn how to best help those looking to find hope through us. As Ebony Clarke, the director of the Multnomah County Mental Health and Addictions Services Division, said at our conference last year, we have “to create a level platform where everyone’s voice can be heard.” Because of what’s been happening, and the direct impact it has on all our mental health, we’ve made this year’s Grit and Grace conference FREE. Learn more and register...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Sep 12, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #SuicidePrevention, #WomensMentalHealth, MentalHealthMatters
My name is Geetha Balagopal. My beloved daughter Priya was lost to suicide on January 10th 2016 during her 4th suicide attempt. Priya was a beautiful girl, a quiet, introverted, brilliant and dignified child, who excelled in whatever activity she participated in. The anxiety was always there but I was not aware of it. She was bullied in school and it started very early – in Kindergarten. I never knew about it. She didn’t have many friends but got calls from classmates who needed help with homework. During the summer of her junior year in high school, she told me that she has OCD. My response was “you have too much time on your hands disorder” Having been raised in a culture where you are conditioned to “just do what is required without complaining”- I didn’t realize the seriousness of it. Priya left home when she was 15 and a half years old to join the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, (a boarding school for highly gifted high school kids) around the same time she told me that she had OCD. She only came home one day a month – and she only called or texted if she needed supplies or food. She made new friends, fell in love with Indian dance and I was happy for her. One day in early 2009, I was driving Priya back to school –about to merge on the highway, when she said that she feels hopeless and that “life is not worth living”. I almost ran off the road but kept my voice calm and asked her why...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Sep 6, 2020 | #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #WomensMentalHealth, Mental Health Matters
“Stories are living and dynamic. Stories exist to be exchanged. They are the currency of Human Growth.” Jean Houston, PhD Twenty-five years ago, these words flowed out of me: “Balanced within exultation and despair is the state of mind called reality.” The words were written above the title, States of Mind, and beneath the title was the author’s name: Leslie D’Angelo. The self-publisher? Resources for Living. And what was States of Mind? The chaos in my mind. The yearning in my heart. An embodied voice that needed more than anything else to feel, to write, to speak, and be heard. My name is Diane Kaufman. What experiences have I had and how do I allow them to define me? Or do I dare to define myself? Here goes…. I am a suicide survivor. I am a poet, artist, child psychiatrist, humanism in medicine awardee, and founder of Arts Medicine for Hope & Healing, ARTS for Living, and Creative Life Lines. I am still becoming who I am. I am a hurt little girl who grew into a sensitive and brave woman. I have Bipolar II Disorder. I am a mother, a grandmother, a sister, Aunt, and friend. Most of all I want to be a humane human being and I don’t want to stop growing. I want to cultivate and share the gifts I was born to give – just as we all are born with special gifts to help illuminate the world from human inflicted darkness. Who was this Leslie D’Angelo? My middle name is Leslie. Perhaps I wanted to be an angel. D is first initial of...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Sep 6, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #WomensMentalHealth, MentalHealthMatters
As proud Iranian-American author and mental health activist Melody Moezzi said, “Race is a mental health issue; mental health is a race issue. We need to stop treating them like they are two separate issues because they are not.” Discussing race and mental health is not new for ASHA International. This discussion is a part of who we are at our core. There’s never been a more important time than right now to share that with the world. The video clip below is from our 2019 Grit and Grace conference but it’s especially fitting in our current state. This year we chose to make our conference FREE because, as Melody explains, we can’t do this alone. Join us as we talk about race and mental health at the Grit & Grace Conference on September 18th. Click here to learn more and register. ...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Aug 16, 2020 | #BIPOCMentalHealth, #Grit&Grace, #MyStoryMYSUPERPOWER, #WomensMentalHealth, MentalHealthMatters
We are excited to announce the 2020 Grit & Grace Multicultural Women’s Mental Health Conference is going virtual! And it’s free of charge thanks to our amazing sponsors! We hope you will join us for an inspiring and empowering day. We have an amazing line up of speakers you will not want to miss! Since it is a FREE virtual event, everyone across the world interested in women’s mental health and well-being are welcome to join us. So please share this invite with your family, friends and colleagues and invite them to join us. The conference will feature leading mental health advocates from across cultures who will share their stories to give hope and empower us to cultivate resilience and well-being during these difficult times. Click here to check out the amazing line up of speakers and register....
