Blog Posts by Meera Varma
Mental Health Advocacy Spotlight: Student ID Bill
Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide. Getting involved in mental health advocacy in our youth is not easy, but with the emergence of bills like the Student ID Bill (a proposal for schools to print mental health hotline numbers, such as 988, on the back of student ID cards), opportunities for upcoming generations…
I’m the First in My Family To Go to Therapy – And It Changed My Life
I’m going to be honest – I didn’t enjoy my first therapy session. I was 14. Growing up, I saw therapy as something people do when there is something “wrong” with them. They’d sit in a room, maybe on a long couch, and talk about their feelings for an hour before leaving and going on…
Managing Stress in the Everyday
There are times when the unknown can be exciting: a new job, a surprise birthday party, the first day of classes. However, there are also times when the unknown can be unsettling, leading to increased stress levels and unwelcome emotions. Throughout the past year and a half, uncertainty has become even more prevalent because of…
How I’m Putting My Mental Health First this School Year
On March 13, 2020, I got the email from UCLA that everyone will be sent home, effective immediately, due to COVID-19. Since then, I’ve been living and doing school from the comfort of my childhood home. This month, however, we’re finally heading back to campus. I’ll be a senior taking classes and working as a…
Active Minds is the largest nonprofit in the United States mobilizing youth and young adults to transform mental health norms across society.