Mental health awareness is something that people are starting to acknowledge and support more and more every day. It’s very unfortunate that it has taken this long for a light to be shined on something that impacts millions of people each and every day. Hopefully the movement will continue to move forward and more communities and institutions will begin to pay attention to it.
Social media is one of the most effective ways a number of mental health fighters have been able to deliver their messages. Just recently, a 27-year-old beauty blogger named Yasaman Gheidi from Vancouver, Canada used her platform to do just that.
Anyone who visits her Instagram page can see that she is an extremely talented and creative person. She has hundreds of posts depicting different makeup looks, outfits and hairstyles. Her 77,000 followers can’t get enough of her!
Even though she seems happy and content in her images, the truth is that this young woman deals with crippling challenges on daily basis from her mental health.
The stigma society has created surrounding mental health disorders, means many sufferes stay silent and retract from the world whenever they find themselves unable to cope. Yasaman was no exception to this cruel fate.
Until now.
According to one of her Instagram pics, she chose to deal with her mental health after she had an anxiety attack, which caused her to quickly sneak out of a work function.
She was worried what her coworkers were going to think and asked her partner what should she say to them if they asked questions.
“Without much thought she said to say that I had a headache. I agreed but quickly questioned my decision. Why did I have to be ashamed and lie about my anxiety attack? So many wonderful and amazing people suffer from the same mental illnesses that I do on a daily basis. Why can’t we just talk about it openly?”
In that moment not only did Yasaman decide to face her own mental illness head on and stop hiding her struggles from the world, she also inspired others to do the same thing. So, the “Inside Out Challenge” was born!
She posted two videos on YouTube showcasing the illness she deals with in her daily life which are anxiety and depression. According to her it is all about starting a conversation and “giving mental health a visual representation — as a way to end the stigma that surrounds it.”
“I’ve challenged people to paint on their face what they feel on the inside at times. It’s not something visible and I think a lot of the time it’s not taken seriously. It’s not an open wound, it’s not a broken arm, so people can’t see it and they can’t empathize with it.”
Ever since her challenge, she received hundreds of videos and images from people showcasing the battles they deal with everyday.
“I really [want] to give mental illness a face so that people who don’t battle with mental illness [can] understand it a bit more.”
To learn more about her challenge, check out the inspiring video below.
Source: metdaan.com