The Asian Space
About the Asian Space
Welcome to the Asian Space! The Asian Space is a site that has been created specifically to talk about mental health issues in the Asian community.
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My name is Birju Thakker, I wanted to create this website to start a conversation amongst the Asian community about mental health issues. Asian people don't seem to talk about their mental health issues, they hide it or find it shameful. Let's change that, let's start a conversation about mental health and realise that hiding does us no good and that we need to talk.
I wanted to do this because as an Indian myself, I have realised that in Asian culture mental health doesn't really get talked about. Society in general has made some big advances regarding mental health over the last decade. However in Asian culture it is still pretty stagnant.
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Have you heard anyone from India or Pakistan talk about depression or anxiety or even just mention mental health in conversations? There seems to be a taboo about even mentioning it, let alone telling anyone about any issues you might be having. It just seems to get buried in the sand.
Asian people have mental health issues too. However if you try talking about it within this community you'll probably get told that there is no such thing as mental health, or not to mention it to anyone because it will affect your job prospects, future relationships or the community may start gossiping about you and your family.
Mental Health Issues in India
Before 2018 if you tried to commit suicide in India, you could be reported to the police and locked up in prison! That seems to be the answer to mental health issues in Asian culture; to pretend the problem doesn't exist by not talking about it and keeping it locked up inside in your own internal prison and never letting it out.
We need to talk, we need to have conversations. We need to realise that it's OK to not be OK. By keeping things locked up, we're just suffering even more. By talking and having a conversation we can start to let out the grief, the anxiety and hopefully start to feel better. It's important to get a conversation started about mental health in the Asian community. I really hope that by reading this you feel like you can talk.
How I can help with Mental Health Issues in the Asian community
I'll be posting new blogs about topics that affect people's mental health such as depression and anxiety as well as listing numbers of organisations that you can phone if you need someone to talk to, would like some more information regarding mental health or if you are suffering and need some help
Useful contact numbers for Asians suffering from mental health issues
Rethink Mental Illness can be contacted on 0300 5000 92. The Samaritans can also be reached on 116 123. Thank you for reading, and take care
About Me
Hi! My name is Birju Thakker. I wanted to create this website to start a conversation amongst the Asian community about mental health issues. Asian people don't seem to talk about their mental health issues, they hide it or find it shameful. Let's change that, let's start a conversation about mental health and realise that hiding does us no good and that we need to talk. I hope you find this website useful, whether it's learning about different aspects of mental health or just using this as a resource to talk to someone. I wish you well.
