Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives  
July 2014


 

On March 7, 2014, I was a featured speaker along with former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher at a fundraising reception hosted by Mental Health America of San Francisco to strengthen communities and support mental health and recovery. It was an absolute honor. 

 

Dr. Satcher was the first U.S. Surgeon General to create a report on mental health. In 1999, Dr. Satcher released another report on mental health discussing how culture and society impact the different mental health services people seek, as well as how mental health and mental illness are looked upon in America. "While mental disorders may touch all Americans either directly or indirectly, all do not have equal access to treatment and services," said Dr. Satcher.  "Critically, culture counts."

 

Dr. Satcher's insights have inspired and empowered me and my colleagues at ASHA International to create and present programs that are culturally responsive.

 

As a woman cradled between the diametric cultures of the ancient East, India, and the modern West, America, I am acutely aware of the cultural barriers to recovery, and culturally-responsive pathways to mental health and wellness - a story I share in my memoir, Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within. For example, within the Indian culture, the incredible need to save face and safeguard the family's honor, coupled with our misconceptions about mental illness prevents people from seek life saving treatment and support. Yet, wellness practices that originated in India, like Pranyama, Transcendental Meditation, and Yoga provide powerful pathways to health and wellness.

 

I invite to examine your cultural barriers, and explore culturally-responsive pathways to mental health and wellness. 

 

Wishing you wellness, 

   

Gayathri Ramprasad, MBA, CPS
Founder & President, ASHA International
Gayathri Signature
Is The Rest Of The World 
'Crazy Like Us'?
 
Author Ethan Watters thinks that America is "homogenizing the way the world goes mad." In Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, he describes how American definitions and treatments of mental illness have spread to other cultures around the world.  Listen to his fascinating NPR interview

Gayathri Ramprasad grew up in Bangalore, India, where traditional Hindu culture has no concept of depression. There was no doctor to diagnose her anxiety disorder as an adolescent girl nor medicine to treat the condition. 

Now, as founder and president of  ASHA International, she is an agent of hope for persons of all cultures that suffer from depression and anxiety. Ramprasad has just published her memoir, Shadows in the Sun: Healing From Depression and Finding the Light Within an inspiring story that provides a first-of-its-kind cross-cultural lens to mental illness and documents the way she drew on both her rich Hindu heritage and Western medicine to find healing. Read more...
SHADOWS IN THE SUN
HEALING FROM DEPRESSION AND FINDING THE LIGHT WITHIN
by Gayathri Ramprasad

    "Gayathri, through the book, has made a tremendous contribution to our understanding and appreciation of the evolution of depression, in the context of culture and the impact among cultures. The message of my Surgeon General Report- Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity come alive in this very interesting book."

 

-David Satcher, MD, PhD Director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine Poussiant-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health, 16th Surgeon General of the United States

 Shadows in the Sun is now available at Hazelden,Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Powell's Books and other major bookstores in print and e-books.
 To learn more about the book, read an excerpt, and reviews, please  click here...   

Dear friends,
Please join ASHA International and Project Hope Exchange, and share your 30-second message of hope. Give Hope. Give Life. Learn more...

 

In This Issue
Crazy Like Us
Mental Illness Across Cultures
SHADOWS IN THE SUN
Project Hope Exchange
Real People, Real Recovery
Upcoming Events
About Us
Real People, Real Recovery
Profiles of Courage, Hope & Resilience 
Author John Head Visits
John's Story
 
Upcoming Events:  

August 10, 2014
Book Reading & Discussion by Gayathri Ramprasad

September 15, 2014
Wellness Workshop & Book Signing by Gayathri Ramprasad
White Plains Youth Bureau, White Plains, NY

October 3, 2014
Random House India will publish Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within by Gayathri Ramprasad

October 8, 2014

Grit & Grace: The Science & Art of Personal Transformation 

Wellness Workshop & Book Signing by Gayathri Ramprasad

Location:  University of Minnesota, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

 

October 29, 2014

Keynote & Book Signing by Gayathri Ramprasad

Sheppard Pratt Health System - Baltimore, MD

 

November 3, 2014  

Grit & Grace: The Science & Art of Personal Transformation 

Wellness Workshop & Book Signing by Gayathri Ramprasad

Location:  Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, 221 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL 60601

 

December 6, 2014

Grit & Grace: The Science & Art of Personal Transformation 

Wellness Workshop & Book Signing by Gayathri Ramprasad

Location:  Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, 5001 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34134

 
About Us:
ASHA International's mission is to promote personal, organizational, and community wellness through culturally-responsive mental health education, training, and support.

GET INVOLVED.
You can make a difference!

 
PLEASE NOTE:

Gayathri Ramprasad, MBA, CPS, is not a doctor, therapist or health care professional. She is a mental health advocate and Certified Peer Specialist (CPS). The information shared in this E-mail is for general information purposes only and therefore not intended to replace the medical advice afforded by physicians or other healthcare professionals.   

Dear friends, 
 
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