May 1 marks the beginning of both National Mental Health Month and National Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Beast India Company is going to get intersectional.
Throughout the month, we'll explore the unique challenges South Asians face accessing and navigating mental health services in the West.* But first, let's establish some ground truths about how we, as a company, think about this topic.
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Mental health is just as important as physical health. We don't need to delve into the vast amount of academic literature exploring the relationship between the two. Any nutrition or fitness coach worth their weight will discuss with you the importance of minimizing stress, investing in your relationships, avoiding depressants like alcohol, and improving your sleep hygiene.
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This is a topic that is personally important to the staff at Beast India Company. The founder of Beast India Company has struggled mightily with depression and anxiety through his life and is functional only thanks to a regimen of health habits, therapy, and medication. The founder has also worked as an EMT and with the federal government on addiction policy and has seen at multiple levels how the systems fail to adequately address the country's mental health needs. We also believe that the most powerful action many can take is sharing their experiences and destigmatizing mental health.
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South Asians have our own sh*t. Immigration sh*t; collective family sh*t; body image sh*t; "You're not American enough" sh*t; perfectionism and model minority sh*t. Over the course of the month, we'll discuss these topics in greater detail, but there's plenty here for us to unpack.
*We recognize that AAPIs encompasses more than just the South Asian community.