Anjali Joshi: Mental Health Advocate

Anjali Joshi is a mental health advocate. She loves “creating” and leading the journey of an idea from its inception. This can be for a product, service, or social enterprise. The written word is her best friend. She believes in the power of storytelling and that content is magic. She thinks quality trauma-informed Mental Healthcare is a human right and that’s what her mission as a human, who feels like an alien, is. She truly believes that community care is our only way forward. She is an ardent lover of exotic herbal teas!

Anjali wants to change the world one day at a time. She is all action and less talk. She walks the walk.

Anjali has taken the pain, grief, and suffering in her own life and has made it a catalyst to make a difference.

This world needs brave women like her. Women who do not accept the status quo. They rise above the masses and change our very current thinking.

Walk me through what wellness means. Is it a holistic approach to health?

This is a question I am yet to find an absolute answer to. Wellness for me is both individual and collective at the moment. For me, it’s critical to healing myself, my body, and my spirit. Just as important is the health of the planet. My health is not separate from what my environment is or how my community is. At the moment, being in the moment and bringing more presence is alive for me. In everyday life that translates into having peaceful moments for myself, eating well, giving back, doing meaningful work, moving my body, and having lighter moments in my everyday. I feel that increasingly, my body is asking me to be more holistic because that is the only way. We don’t exist in compartments and neither does our health!

I love the fact that you are a mental health advocate. We focus so much on our physical, financial, and spiritual health. However, mental health is equally important. What is a mental health advocate?

This question made me pause for a moment and reflect back on what it means to be a mental health advocate. I feel that I have been a mental health advocate long before I accepted the label for myself. A mental advocate is someone who is not necessarily a medical mental health professional but works towards the institutional issues surrounding mental health and debunking stigma. The origins of mental health advocacy lie in the human rights discourse. For me, this came alive after I lost my dad to suicide in 2015. Grief is strange. Even with all the pain, sometimes suffering, and anger, I felt that if I remained silent about mental health, I would not be able to breathe. I think my body/intuition/gut is my greatest compass and it guided me to start talking about this, gradually. The advocacy work right now is not my job, it sustains me.

For me, the mind-body division does not exist. It is one. Our mental health, physical health, financial health, spiritual health, and the health of our world are connected. My relationship with money changed from the day I started asking myself, “What is my relationship with money? What does it make me feel?”. This tied in with questions of happiness and the meaning of life and my place in it. These are not separate corners of our existence but are enmeshed in our lives. And of course, no one does it alone. I am a big proponent of therapy and community care. I feel that everyone deserves a safe space. It could be therapy, listening circles, a dance class or just spending time in nature. It is our responsibility in this world to heal ourselves so that everyone else also has the space to do the same.

There is a genetic component and circumstances component related to mental health. Can you please elaborate?

Yes. Increasing evidence and research do show that there is a genetic component and a circumstances component related to mental health. However, that is not to say that these two are opposites. This really comes back to understanding mental health from a well-rounded perspective. Mental health is being studied and understood from different vantage points. A science-based approach would look at genetic sequencing and a trauma-based experiential approach would look at intergenerational trauma from the experiences of people. Both have different modes of knowledge production and method but would come up with similar findings. I think it is within intergenerational trauma that we also witness circumstances being an important parameter. This becomes increasingly evident in cases of systematic oppression via race, gender, sexuality, caste, ability, etc. Our trauma or pain is not inherent to us but generated via circumstances outside of our control. Yet, it gets passed down through generations. That’s why we talk of breaking familial cycles which involve individual as well as collective healing. We are not separate from the world we inhabit. To anyone who is interested in understanding race, body, and intergenerational trauma, I highly recommend, Resmaa Menekam’s My Grandmother’s Hands.

Talk to me about your Ph.D. program and what is the end goal.

The Ph.D. program is another thing I do for myself. I love research and have some questions I want to engage with in-depth. The Ph.D. program gives me the structure and support I need to carry out the research. My work is based in the Central Himalayan region (my home), and potentially asks these very questions on health and wellness. I want to understand the social meaning of health. What health practices become “natural” to a place? How can we reimagine health in remote areas of the Central Himalayan region so that healthcare is more accessible and sustainable? I am studying the origins of modern medicine, how hospitals/clinics came to exist and how they have interacted with the regional specificities of a place. I hope to have some insight by the end of the Ph.D. Believe it or not, the Ph.D. is also just the beginning to be able to answer these questions.

Anjali you work for an organization that focuses on women empowerment? What is women’s empowerment?

Just like health, I feel that women’s empowerment is also multi-faceted. To different women in different places of the world, it could mean a different thing, with the common factor being that they have agency in their lives. I feel that women’s empowerment includes men too because when we let go of the shackles that hold us back and are free to be who want to be, all of us are liberated. We don’t create safe spaces just for ourselves but for everyone who needs it. I feel that women’s empowerment is not just about fighting together but also laughing and dancing together.

Share with me an idea that you had from conception and how you brought it into reality.

This is not an idea that I conceptualized but in my first full-time role at an NGO, I was asked to establish a club for adults with developmental disabilities. I had never done anything like this before but I am a courageous person, even if I lack the experience. I knew this back then too. Adults with developmental disabilities are often infantilized with little to no public spaces for them. Even if they go out, they are often met with stares and whispers, which can make anyone uncomfortable. But everyone needs fun in their life. Everyone has the right to recreation. The club came alive 3 months after I joined, and needed us to have a clear vision, budget, and the drive to get things done. It started with extensive research and as we started moving forward with every little step, we had neighbors who volunteered, and teammates who helped. There was construction work that needed to be done, especially keeping in mind motor disabilities. I remember, one freezing cold morning, I was overseeing construction and running around to get things done. When we launched the club with a concert and some poetry, all the smiles and the sheer joy, made it worthwhile. I am smiling even as I remember the moment 🙂

You love storytelling and believe in content. Help me understand how being authentic helps in telling stories.

I think this is a reciprocal process. Authenticity is not absolute and static. At any given point in space and time, our identities are fluid and contingent. The beauty of writing and storytelling is that the process alone offers avenues to introspect and verbalize our sense of self. It helps us build authenticity because there is clarity. So being authentic when you tell stories, if nothing else, makes it easier. It makes it easier to accept the vulnerable part of ourselves, to say that with all that we have been through, we are still here. To say that while the pain and trauma are a part of us, so is the joy you feel when you meet a friend after a long time or the tears you cry after reading words that perfectly sum up how you are feeling. It helps us bring out the beautiful spectrum of emotions we embody. We make stories and stories make us. This is how we find common ground even with our differences.

You are chosen to go to Mars. You can take only five things with you. Walk me through what you would take and why?

This is a fun one. I am assuming that basic survival needs are met and we have colonies on Mars. Given this context, here’s what I would take;

1-Seeds/Saplings and Mud- For the sheer joy of watching a plant grow and remembering home.

2- An Mp3 player- I can live without my phone but not without music.

3-A book- Maybe Jeanette Winterson’s Why be Happy When You Could be Normal? I can read this book multiple times and not get bored.

4- Art Supplies- For stress-busting and fun.

5- Some Himalayan Spices and Herbs- I have been raised by the mountains and I need this stuff to survive anywhere.

Anjali becomes the Prime Minister of India. Your party says in the next 30, 60, 90, 120, and 365 days, you need to tackle 5 issues. I am curious what you would choose and why?

1- Mental Health- I think we need changes on the policy level as well as in everyday life.

2- Disability Rights- I believe we all need to unlearn ableism for a better world.

3- Prison Reform- I think prison reform is one of the least understood but critical aspects of a good society.

4- Public Spaces and Art- I am not sure how else to put this but I think that we need more spaces, like parts, community centers, and immersive art experiences for inclusivity to happen organically. Play is a very powerful resource.

5- Health Equity- My work is devoted to health equity. I would want access to health to also include dealing with systematic injustices and barriers.

My dream is to have a community where we have a culture of belonging. A culture of belonging is created when everyone takes responsibility and participates.

Name me your favorite Indian dish. what is so special about it? I want the recipe.

I love “pahadi” (meaning mountain people) food.  This one is called Aaloo(Potato) ke Gutke. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 Potatoes

• 2 teaspoon Mustard oil

• 1/4 teaspoon Red Chilli powder

• 1/8 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhania)

• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)

• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)

• 1 teaspoon Jambu (A Himalayan Herb)

• 2 Dry Red Chilli

• 2 pinch Asafoetida

• Salt, to taste

• Coriander leaves, to garnish

Instructions:

1-Boil the potatoes, peel them, and dice them.

2- Take a small bowl and mix coriander powder, red chili powder, and turmeric powder with 2 teaspoons of water.

3-Heat a frying pan with oil, and add cumin seeds, Jambu, asafoetida, and red chili. Let it cook for about 15 seconds.

4- Add the mixed masala(the mixture of coriander powder, red chili powder, and water) and salt. After 30 seconds add the potatoes and coat well with the masala. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.

5- Turn the heat off and garnish with coriander leaves.