Share your story with the GMHAN community & Coalition members

Your voice and your story are important and can help inspire meaningful change for global mental health. Listen to and share your voice with our community, learn about their projects and engage with members who are sharing their experiences of mental health. By sharing your experiences, you can help raise awareness of the mental health challenges that people and communities face across the globe and provide hope and inspiration to others who may be facing similar issues. Use the search bar to find stories related to your specific contexts, experiences and advocacy work.

If you would like to share your story with the Global Mental Health Action Network, a community passionate about improving global mental health, we invite you to complete this form at the end of this page. We look forward to hearing from you and working together to create a more supportive and inclusive community for all.

Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention Success Stories from Civil Society Organisations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Here you can access Civil Society Speaks submissions highlighting success stories on programmes, initiatives and campaigns for mental health and substance use prevention, implemented and shared by civil society organisations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Learn more about the Regional Coalition for Mental Health Substance Use Prevention here.

Featured
Anne-Sharlene Murapa’s Story
Anne-Sharlene Murapa’s Story

My story begins with my own lived experience. There was a time when I did not know what was wrong or where to find support. And even when I eventually accessed help, I struggled to connect with the methods being offered. Something felt misaligned, but I did not yet have the language to explain why. That dissonance sent me on a personal quest to understand mental health in ways that felt contextual, embodied, and culturally relevant.

Akekelwa Catherine Chitonka’s Story
Akekelwa Catherine Chitonka’s Story

My journey into mental health advocacy began with profound loss at 19, I lost my closest friend to suicide. She was brilliant and kind, yet beneath the surface, she was drowning. There were no school counselors, no crisis support systems, no one trained to see the signs I now recognize everywhere. Her death was not inevitable; it was the predictable outcome of systematic failure.

Esta Richard Etim’s Story
Esta Richard Etim’s Story

My journey into global mental health advocacy did not begin in a hospital or policy space. It began in rooms filled with women who came for fitness but stayed to talk about stress, exhaustion, anxiety, and the emotional weight they were carrying. Through movement-based sessions, guided reflection, and mental health education, I saw how safe spaces and practical tools could help women reconnect with themselves.

Maxwell Chacha’s Story
Maxwell Chacha’s Story

My journey into mental health advocacy began not in a classroom or conference hall, but on the streets, sitting with young women injecting heroin behind a market. Over weeks, they began to speak—not about addiction, but about childhood violence, lost children, police brutality… I learned that their mental distress was not pathology. It was a legitimate response to an illegitimate system.

Sia Edward’s Story
Sia Edward’s Story

I began my mental health advocacy journey with Tanzania Community Health Information and Support (TaCHIS), working with higher learning institutions through arts and sports to promote awareness and early support among youth in Tanzania Mainland.  I have learned that real change begins when we listen deeply to lived experiences and center community voices in our work.

Naomi Dick Kaba’s Story
Naomi Dick Kaba’s Story

After an international career focused on improving sexual and reproductive health access in sub-Saharan Africa, my personal experiences - both as a caregiver for relatives with psychiatric disorders and as a survivor of perinatal depression - reshaped my mission. Determined to dismantle the taboos surrounding women's mental health, I founded the Hakili Nafaya Institute.

Margianta Surahman Juhanda Dinata’s Story
Margianta Surahman Juhanda Dinata’s Story

I've always wanted to be a better person — not just for myself, but also for everyone around me. By becoming a better person, I believe I can help to co-create a world where people support each other. This simple wish has guided my work in the development sector, even as I grappled with personal challenges that I couldn't understand for years.

Trevor’s Story
Trevor’s Story

From Shadows to Light: A Journey of Healing

This isn't just my story of survival; it's a promise that hope persists, that healing is possible, and that our darkest chapters can lead to our most meaningful purpose. For every youth in Kenya, in Africa, and across the world grappling with mental health challenges: you are not alone. Your life has value, your story matters, and your future is worth fighting for.

Civil Society Speaks - Our Step Association, Jordan
Civil Society Speaks - Our Step Association, Jordan

Our Step Association, based in Jordan, is dedicated to challenging and transforming the societal stereotypes surrounding mental health disorders. It aims to increase awareness and understanding of the issues and rights faced by people living with these disorders.

Area of work: Empowerment and inclusion of people with lived experiences

Rekha’s Story
Rekha’s Story

My passion for mental health and supporting adolescents began in my mid-teens, a time when young people experience complex physical, emotional, and social changes. As I worked closely with adolescents, I developed essential skills like active listening, which helped create a non-judgmental space for them to share their thoughts and feelings.

Kalundu’s Story
Kalundu’s Story

My journey into mental health advocacy began in 2018 while working as a community facilitator for the Youth Inclusion Program, a project funded by Mastercard Foundation and Heifer International. Engaging with young people in the field, I witnessed firsthand the challenges they faced with mental health.

Rukhsar’s Story
Rukhsar’s Story

In my second year of university, we were studying relationship theories, and I had a revelation: it became clear why I was often in unhealthy romantic relationships and why I shared certain dynamics with my parents. This insight sparked a journey of self-discovery, encouraging me to explore my behaviours and emotions in pursuit of a healthier life.

Shantal’s Story
Shantal’s Story

Since 2017, I have developed a passion for understanding the human mind, emotions, and behaviour. In 2019, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. It was a dark period for me, but as I began to recover, I promised myself that I would use my personal story and experience with mental illness to raise awareness and support those who are struggling in silence.

Antony’s Story
Antony’s Story

Sometimes, life’s greatest challenges reveal our true purpose. Years ago, I watched friends, colleagues, and family members struggle with mental health conditions in various forms. The ordeal of finding proper care—over 200 km away, with few mental health professionals and high treatment costs—exposed me to a widespread issue that many face in silence.

Community-based support in Tanzania
Community-based support in Tanzania

In 2020, while implementing a Key Populations Investment Fund project under PEPFAR, we observed a worrying trend: an increasing number of key populations and young people on ART were discontinuing their HIV services. During a Data Quality Assurance exercise, we connected with healthcare providers and recipients across various health facilities who reported issues with medication, self-denial, and a lack of accessible, friendly services for key populations and youth.

The Americas Region
The Americas Region

We asked our members to share their journeys and experiences in mental health advocacy, exploring what inspired them to take action, the work they are currently doing, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Here are their compelling stories that highlight their commitment to raising awareness, supporting their communities, and transforming mental health care for those in need.

Member stories from Africa
Member stories from Africa

We asked our members to share their journeys and experiences in mental health advocacy, exploring what inspired them to take action, the work they are currently doing, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Here are their compelling stories that highlight their commitment to raising awareness, supporting their communities, and transforming mental health care for those in need.

Aston’s Story
Aston’s Story

We asked our members to share their journeys and experiences in mental health advocacy, exploring what inspired them to take action, the work they are currently doing, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Here are their compelling stories that highlight their commitment to raising awareness, supporting their communities, and transforming mental health care for those in need.

Maddie’s Story
Maddie’s Story

We asked our members to share their journeys and experiences in mental health advocacy, exploring what inspired them to take action, the work they are currently doing, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Here are their compelling stories that highlight their commitment to raising awareness, supporting their communities, and transforming mental health care for those in need.

Chloe’s Story
Chloe’s Story

We asked our members to share their journeys and experiences in mental health advocacy, exploring what inspired them to take action, the work they are currently doing, and the lessons they've learned along the way. Here are their compelling stories that highlight their commitment to raising awareness, supporting their communities, and transforming mental health care for those in need.

If you would like to share your story with GMHAN we invite you to complete this form.

A member of the GMHAN team will then be in touch.