Gendered Freedom, Structural Depression, and the Cost of Silence - An Impact Report from “You Are Not Alone – Human Is Near You”

Breaking Stigma Was Only the Beginning

In 2018, while discussions around depression and anxiety remained hushed—a whispered secret, spoken aloud nowhere except behind closed doors—in India, a young woman from Gujarat started an online discussion around depression and anxiety that read "You Are Not Alone." What followed was a crisis that had been hiding in plain sight.

The messages received within the first thirty minutes of this online discussion were not just from individuals wanting to talk about depression and anxiety. It was a cry from individuals wanting to talk for the first time in their lives. These messages did not just talk of depression and anxiety. It was an expression of structural depression—a depression that resulted from socio-economic conditions, gender issues, and cultural issues.

The three issues that emerged from this discussion around depression and anxiety, which took the shape of peer discussions and physical meetups, were issues of awareness, issues of accessibility, and issues of financial exclusion. Mental health was not absent from the lives of individuals because individuals did not suffer from depression and anxiety. It was absent because the systems did not listen.

Invisible Wounds, Visible Consequences

One of the first cases was about an “highly educated woman in her early twenties who was suffering from severe depression.” Instead of giving her medical help, her “family took her to see a Bhuva ji (faith healer) as they thought she was possessed.” The woman suffered humiliation and emotional abuse while her illness was not being addressed. Another woman’s depression was considered “a sign of weakness” by her husband, who “ridiculed her,” and her “family thought she was responsible for creating problems in her marital life.”

The most “striking” case was about “a woman who had been abandoned by her husband and rejected by her parents in the name of reputation.” The “network of You Are Not Alone” came into the woman’s life. “What she needs is not charity, but structural support.” Another woman, who had been a successful businesswoman, had come out of a very toxic marriage in a world that made it impossible for women to survive outside marriage. Her isolation and marginalization had led to severe depression. With the help of peer dialogue, medical attention, and reconnection with the larger community, she had slowly regained control over her life. This example shows that the process of healing is never linear, nor can it ever be individual.

This initiative had also helped men who had been suffering silently. There was a 20-year-old who had been having suicidal thoughts, and he had found stability with peer dialogue. There was another survivor who had chosen to become a peer counselor, realizing that pain reduces when shared. This example shows that the only thing that can save lives is collective care.

Educated, Yet Enclosed: Gendered Freedom and Its Hidden Costs

What began as crisis response has developed into research and advocacy work to examine the interplay of gender, work, culture, and mental health. India is proud of headlines like “Girls Top National Exams,” but 32% of women in the workforce is still largely in insecure and frontline positions. Education is the path to freedom but is instead the path to confinement, as care work, marriage, and obedience remain non-negotiable.

Suicide rates for women continue to rise, often as an outcome of domestic violence, coercion, and emotional abandonment. Equality is no longer just economic. Without joint care, emotional intelligence in men, and relationship therapy, marriage is no longer partnership but silent psychological extraction.

From Homes to Communities: Why Women’s Mental Health Is a Public Issue

“Women’s mental health is not just a personal issue, it is a social and economic issue.” Research done in the state of Gujarat found that nearly 50% of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression. However, they are not being addressed because of the stigma associated with mental illness. Emotional labor is unpaid, unappreciated, and expected.

The economic costs are staggering. The World Health Organization has found that India is projected to lose $1.03 trillion between 2012 and 2030 in the form of lost productivity and employment. Structural depression is not just an issue of health; it is an issue of development.

Global Collaboration to Close the Accessibility Gap

The organization’s project, “You Are Not Alone,” has expanded to a global platform, working with LUFU to help children cope with grief through art, with a focus on the African community. A project with innovators from Spain focused on the development of mental health tools using AI to help youth and women, raising many concerns about the ethics of such a tool.

Media, Algorithms, and the Manufacturing of Gendered Hate

Conversations with journalism students showed that there is a lack of gender sensitivity and mental health issues in reporting. Even progressive social media campaigns, such as Mohey’s Kanyamaan, has come under fire for “attacking culture.” Dowry, domestic violence, and abandoning spouses have been portrayed as normal, and the autonomy of women are sensationalized.

Social media is further adding to the issue. Meta platforms often fail to identify abuse, especially in regional languages, and mark explicit cases of harassment as “no violation found.” Headlines go viral, shaming women and letting men off scot-free. The choices of daughters are blamed on the mothers, and fathers are nowhere to be found in cases of abandoning spouses.

Cinema and advertising are significant counterforces in this context too. In a conversation with filmmaker Meghana Ghai Puri, daughter of filmmaker Subhash Ghai, the importance of responsibility in the field of cinema was discussed, as was resistance to change. Responsible branding is also important, as a conversation with Galderma discussed in terms of the impact of including Rohit Sharma in a shared parenthood advertisement.

Dhara for Dhara: Youth, Sustainability, and Structural Awareness

Parallelly, Dhara for Dhara was conceptualized with the aim of fighting influencer culture and cultivating critical thinking among the youth. The research on sustainable sugar gained traction with Nusli Wadia, Britannia, and the erstwhile leadership at Nestle, highlighting the link between sustainability, health, and mental wellness.

The initiatives have continued despite the lack of a registered NGO, funding, and a team, with a focus on lived experiences, consistency, and shared responsibility. Policy advocacies and impact assessments with government agencies have helped identify areas where mental health prevention needs to be built into the systems, rather than being added as an afterthought.

Why This Matters—for India and the World

Structural depression flourishes in environments where silence is rewarded, and conformity is imposed upon people. When the mental health of women is not prioritized, societies are broken, economies are weakened, and democracies are undermined. Young leaders, accompanied by wise mentors, can change the course of history by prioritizing care, dignity, and responsibility.

While this impact report is not a celebration of resilience, it is a call to rethink freedom, rethink mental health, and rebuild systems of distress. If all people play their part to the best of their ability, the system will respond accordingly. Awareness is what sparks governance, and governance is what sparks change. No person should suffer in silence, particularly when the suffering is structural in nature.

Youth Leadership

According to the World Health Organization, India is projected to lose approximately USD 1.03 trillion between 2012 and 2030 due to mental health conditions. These losses stem from reduced productivity, unemployment, work absenteeism, and long-term social and economic consequences. However, this crisis is not limited to India alone—the entire world is confronting a growing mental health emergency shaped by inequality, precarity, and social fragmentation. This global reality is why my work consciously extends beyond borders, engaging youth across regions to demonstrate the transformative strength of collective youth leadership.

I strongly believe that youth leadership is a critical force in reversing this trend. When young people are empowered with the right tools, ethical frameworks, and platforms for participation, they can challenge stigma, influence policy, reshape media narratives, and reimagine care systems. Youth are not merely beneficiaries of mental health interventions—they are catalysts for systemic change in how mental health is understood, accessed, and supported across societies.

Written by: Daraa Patel