Mental health has always been a topic of interest in our community and several strides have been made to have open conversations and address mental issues head-on. However, mental health amongst teens is not as discussed especially due to the stereotypes that come with being a teenager, especially in the African community. The mental health issues that teenagers encounter nowadays are very misrepresented by what our community considers “the teenage experience” and this makes it easy for their mental wellbeing to be ignored just because they are teenagers.
Today, our focus on teenage mental health will give you insight into what goes on in a teenager’s mind as well as what they really think about the community’s outlook on them. In this very resourceful episode, our guest Jada Yudom, a teenager and author, will break down some aspects of teen mental health from her book #TeenMentalHealth. I would love to use this opportunity to call on all parents and teenagers to give this episode a listen and give her book a read, and I hope you get inspired as much as I was.
Get to meet our guest:
Jada Atchu Yudom (she/her) is a sixteen-year-old Cameroonian American mental health advocate. She co-founded Revive, a youth-led organization focused on normalizing the conversation around mental health.
With her business partner Sania Ahmad, she also co-authored a book around the same topic and more. One day, she hopes that the future generations will be able to speak up about their feelings without the stigma holding them back.
For sure, our African parents want to keep doing what they know based on their upbringing, but that isn’t not working in these times. Times have changed and the issues we’re facing as African teens in America is different and so we expect our community to change to meet our needs.
– Jada Yudom
CONTACT:
Instagram – @reviveorg; Her personal insta – @jadayudom; Sania Ahmad’s Instagram – @saniafahmad. Their podcast – @thrivewithrevive, and chronicles – @revivechronicles. Their book: #TeenMentalHealth & Their website – www.revivementalhealth.org
