Ariana Alejandra Gibson: Normalizing Mental Health through Stories and Safe Spaces
Ariana: Happy to be with you, Spiffy! Our mission at STIGMA is to normalize conversations about mental health through storytelling so that asking for help becomes easier. There are a lot of rallying cries in the world to "normalize conversations about mental health", but if you don't give people a safe space to practice having these challenging conversations for the first time, we won't make progress. At STIGMA, we host events where people can sit in front of a camera and share their stories and we have a mobile app where people can watch those stories or use it as a way to ask for and offer messages of hope to people who understand their lived experiences.