Mental health is a growing and silent epidemic in Nepal. A recent national survey estimated that while 10% of adults had faced some mental health related problem, 94% of those affected did not seek help due to associated stigma. This was prior to COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions, which have served to accelerate the scale of mental health challenge in Nepal. Poor awareness about mental health, its semantics and its spectrum in our community lie at the heart of the problem. They help constrain proper identification, labeling and communication of our emotions while also serving as a barrier to seeking help.
Driven by individual mental health experiences and the desire to bring positive change in the existing status quo on mental health, we launched this collective project with an aim to contribute towards the de-stigmatization of mental health in the community. The foundations for the project are built using learnings from another hub initiative (Building Emotional Resilience for Entrepreneurs) where young entrepreneurs were enabled to explore their emotional wellbeing through participation. We now tie together multiple such individual initiatives all aimed towards our goal, to destigmatize mental health.
Till date, we have been able to raise NPR 50,000, reach 49500 persons and provide safe space to 50+ young professionals to share their mess ups. Our recent activities include:
