Heleena Mistry's Story:

​

Mental health is as important to me as it is to the people around me. It’s not something that I realised growing up in a South Asian house hold. I didn’t always feel comfortable to express my worries, troubles and depression with my family. Mainly due to the fear that it would lead to a lecture, or my parents wouldn’t understand what was going on in my mind and definitely in fear of the certainty they would make things worse by making out as though my personal struggle with mental health was just me overthinking or being stupid. But it wasn’t till recently that I realised they meant well, but they hadn’t been raised to show the sort of affection I required to heal. But it’s definitely something that we can offer to the people around us especially our parents who too struggle with mental health, but again don’t know the ways to communicate it with the people that surround them.