Pooja Mehta on mental illness advocacy as a South Asian American woman

Spread the light with Dr Devika B

Pooja Mehta serves with me on the National Board of Directors at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She’s been a powerful mental health advocate since she was 19 and lives with anxiety with auditory hallucinations, depression, and lost her brother Raj to suicide in 2020.
Hear from her on:

- How she centers being a South Asian woman in her advocacy

- What current suicide prevention efforts miss

- An annual tradition in honor of her brother, Raj, to foster kindness and connectedness

- How to craft a lived experience message to drive policy change

Trigger warning: In this episode, we talk about death by suicide, suicidal ideation, anxiety, auditory hallucinations, and depression.
Transcript here. Video conversation here.

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SPREAD THE LIGHT WITH DR DEVIKA B:
Because stigma festers in the dark and scatters in the light.
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If you or a loved one needs help for a mental health crisis in the US, don’t hesitate to call or text 988 — or reach them online here. Find other resources here, search for a treatment facility here, and find a therapist here. Here are resources specifically for LGBTQ people. If you’re a US-based clinician or health student dealing with “any issue, not just a crisis,” reach out to the Physicians Support ...