Let's Talk – Bringing Awareness and Breaking the Stigma

TISB’s Grade 11 student, Aaryani, and her initiative ‘Let’s talk’ has been awarded the Young Achiever’s Award 2020, ‘In Recognition of Outstanding Professional Achievement and Contribution in Social Welfare’ by the Indian Achiever’s Forum. The Forum has been recognising talents since 1999, and draws attention to how successful actors can help the social and economic infrastructural development in and around the country. We contacted Aaryani to learn more about Let’s talk.

I started the initiative because of my own struggles with mental health and the stigma I faced when reaching out for support – Aaryani, Grade 11.

Let’s talk was founded about two years ago when Aaryani was in Grade 9, together with her friend Kashish. It aims to spread mental health awareness and break the stigma around reaching out for help among adolescent individuals. Aaryani started the initiative because of the stigma she faced when reaching out to her surroundings for support. She also had several friends who were battling with mental health issues, but who refused to seek professional support and counselling because of the fear of being judged. “The situation that I saw broke my heart and inspired me to take action and fight for children around the country and around the world who silence themselves and suffer alone”, says Aaryani who has been to the United Nations Headquaters in New York as part of the 1M1B program, where she presented the project at the Women’s Economic Forum.

The core team of 20 people and over 100 volunteers conduct the awareness sessions in Government schools, and with students from all socio-economic backgrounds. To their help the team has collaborated with mental health experts to develop their curriculum. So far since its beginnings, the Let’s talk initiative has conducted 108 awareness sessions, and impacted over 3400 young people. And the team has not been stopped by the global COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic we have been conducting weekly webinars with expert speakers on different mental health topics to help people cope in these trying times”, explains Aaryani who’s passion for social and mental health issues has also lead her to co-author ‘The Book of Wellness’ that has raised over one lakh for the MCKS Food for The Hungry Foundation – providing over 7000 meals.

In the future Let's Talk aims, not just to educate, but also start real conversations in classrooms about mental health. The team wants to create peer-to-peer support systems in the schools that they are involved with. In the coming year Let’s talk plans to open several chapters that are led by youth across the country, to build a self-sustainable model that can run with only support from the core team. The chapters will build their own team and organise events to spread awareness in their communities. “Our vision is to create a world in which nobody has to hesitate to seek help and we hope that youth across the world, take action, start chapters and help make this vision a reality”, says Aaryani.

For more information about mental health and the project, to get in touch, get help and support, or learn how you can participate and contribute, visit Let’s talk’s website. For shorter updates and info, visit Let’s talk’s Instagram profile.