This motivational speaker's new YouTube channel will help you manage your mental health better

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Aparna Piramal Raje admits that her mind makes "movies in my head". "In my movies, there is drama, action, comedy, and a lot of trauma. The challenge with these movies in your head is that you are totally disconnected from the outside world… they are so engrossing, that you can't pay attention [to anything else]," Raje shared at an event last year. The motivational speaker, mental health advocate and author has never shied away from talking about living with bipolar disorder. Her recently released YouTube channel, like her book, Chemical Khichdi, has become an extension of her advocacy.

It's true that to normalise mental illness, we need to talk more about it. When someone like Raje, daughter of VIP Industries chairman Dilip Piramal, has these conversations, it makes many others feel seen. The barriers of class and gender can often prevent people from voicing out. Not to mention the stigma attached to mental illnesses. Raje, who herself draws strength from family and friends, has been using her social media to break some of these walls - first, by sharing her own life story, and how she "hacked" it, and most importantly, through outreach.

Aparna Piramal Raje

From talking about managing one's anger, practicing mindfulness, feeling gratitude, knowing when to take a break and also building a rock-solid support system, her short one-minute videos discuss a gamut of issues that need addressing. Her own battle with mental health is out there, sometimes in photographs and often in stories. She doesn't hide, and this transparency perhaps helps make her page more real and navigable.

In one of her posts, which we found relatable, she discussed the need for creating spaces that are safe and open, and where people could be candid, vulnerable, irrespective of having a mental health condition. This writer, having struggled through a low phase very recently, feels such a space could have helped her heal better and feel more detached from her problem. After all, everyone needs to be heard, no matter how insignificant the issue.

An important topic that finds mention here is workplace well-being. Raje talks about how those in positions of authority can help create a positive work environment with open channels of communication, and also help employees through their stressors. In a post-pandemic environment, where everyone has experienced some kind of anxiety, it's refreshing to see big corporate faces walk the talk. It's a great step forward.

@aparnapiramalraje, YouTube