Beyond Evidence: The Moral Case for International Mental Health
The overwhelming majority of the 400 million persons with mental disorders globally are not being provided with…basic mental health care.
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Denied Citizens
Harrie Timmermans /Global Initiative on Psychiatry
A man crouches inside a mental health institution
Mental health and human rights
People with mental disorders are some of the most neglected people in the world. In many communities, mental illness is not considered a real medical condition, but viewed as a weakness of character or as a punishment for immoral behavior. Even when people with mental disorders are recognized as having a medical condition, the treatment they receive is often less than humane.
Human rights violations against people with mental disorders occur in communities throughout the world – in mental health institutions, hospitals, and in the wider community.
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The Story of ASHA International
The power of a promise
Gayathri Ramprasad, MBA
Founder & President
Greetings,
Welcome to ASHA International!
The opportunity to serve as a global goodwill ambassador to promote mental health awareness and foster communities of hope and recovery is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
I was born and raised in Bangalore, India amidst ancient traditions, and a tight-knit, loving family. My happy childhood, however, gave way to a traumatic adolescence. By the time I was eighteen, I was debilitated by generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks. At twenty-three, as a young mother in America, I struggled to free myself from the death-hold of depression.
On April 30, 1989, confined in the seclusion room in a psychiatric ward in America, stripped of freedom, dignity, hope & humanity, I promised to emerge a harbinger of hope & healing. I promised that for every indignity that I had suffered in shame and silence, I would fight to restore my dignity and the dignity of others like me around the world. And for every moment that my family and I had lived in despair, I would bring hope to the lives of others like us.
ASHA International is the culmination of that promise!
Although my stay at the psychiatric hospital was traumatic at times, it was ultimately life-transforming. For the first time in my life, I met others like myself in the hospital, people with mental illness, and I realized that I was not alone. The caring staff, and the many educational opportunities and therapeutic interventions they offered helped me pave my path to recovery.
Over the last two decades, four out of five members of my family have suffered from chronic and persistent mental illnesses ranging from depression to schizophrenia. Fortunately, with effective treatment and the unconditional love and support of family, each of us have recovered and are living functional, fulfilling lives.
While my family and I celebrated our successful recovery, I grew increasingly concerned about the barriers to recovery faced by the 450 million men, women and children suffering from mental illnesses around the world.
In April 2006, I transformed my concern into global action, and founded ASHA International, along with a distinguished group of mental health advocates. Together, we have had the privilege of reaching out and touching more than twenty-five thousand lives locally and internationally with a resounding message of hope and recovery. Learn more…