Spotlighting the mental health of young South Asian women

By Dr. Gursharan Virdee, CAMH Psychologist and Researcher

During Mental Health Awareness Week and South Asian Heritage Month in May, CAMH had a unique opportunity to showcase its research with South Asian communities on the world stage by premiering four films at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) held in the Greater Toronto Area.

The films were produced as part of The Roshni Project, a multi-phase research project aimed at enhancing the mental well-being of young South Asian women, funded by the CAMH Foundation. Through a model of co-creation, the research team worked with women with lived experience to create a series of short films telling the untold stories of young South Asian women’s experiences of mental health and recovery.

Participants led every aspect of the creative process – the concepts, script writing, costumes and props – with the direction of Maithili Venkataraman, a local award-winning filmmaker who worked on Deepa Mehta’s Anatomy of Violence.

This was an exciting collaboration through which to address mental health stigma within South Asian communities and spread the message of Mental Health is Health through film.

“Mental health is a subject that is either so easily discarded or misunderstood by many, especially within South Asian dialogue,” says Maithili. “This leads to alienation and even more disillusionment for someone trying to come to terms with their state of mind.

“Personally, I think art in any form helps in breaking the barriers of silence that we have been enveloped into. That's what drew me to The Roshni Project – one step forward, for all of us, and to remind us that we're not alone.”

This was an exciting collaboration through which to address mental health stigma within South Asian communities and spread the message of mental health is health through film. Sunny Gill, Co-Founder of IFFSA noted feeling “deeply humbled, privileged and proud to collaborate with CAMH under its corporate responsibility mandate and screen films made by local female survivors of mental health. We believe film is a great way to raise awareness and have conversations about difficult topics.”

The festival showcased a number of films on mental health – which is considered to be one of the most pressing issues among South Asian diaspora communities today.

“The use of film is unique and powerful because we were able to combine the voices of those affected to tell their stories with pre-existing data and knowledge,” explains Mariyam Lightwala, a Research Practicum Student. “Film allows the sharing of a depth of information beyond words – with tone and emotion, actions and faces, all of which combine to impact the specific audiences.”

As we facilitated the focus groups and film workshops leading up to the creation of the films, themes of racism, a poor sense of belonging and acceptance within communities, gender,  cultural values and the impact of intergenerational trauma were reoccurring.

Chenthoori Malankov, a member of The Roshni Project says she felt “safe, empowered and unjudged” throughout the process.

“It was a powerful experience. I had created a chosen family of brilliant women who turned their experiences into advocacy for a world free of shame, judgement and stigma when it comes to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness, specifically within the South Asian community,” she says. 

The films are part of suite of tools being developed by our research team and will include a series of tip sheets and infographics that will be available online open access in early autumn. The team is planning a series of community workshops to share findings from phase one, screen the films and facilitate this much needed dialogue across the GTA with The Roshni Roadshow.

For regular updates on the Roadshow visit: www.theroshniproject.com.

We hope the films go some way to help raise awareness of the specific needs of young South Asian women with mental health and addiction issues, but also the social factors impacting mental health of South Asian communities who are seeking support.