By Claire (Founder & President of YTM) and Madelyn (Co-Founder & Vice-President of YTM)
A short intro to Youthoughtism
Youthoughtism is a non-profit organization aiming to raise awareness on mental health! We are also a community in which everyone is welcome, no matter your age, your race, your background etc.! Every day, we post posts on research about mental health, motivational quotes, sharing experiences etc. Occasionally, we also post blogs and hold events with other organizations, such as discussions, webinars, etc. We hope that through all our events, we can remind you of our motto, ‘You are not alone’.
Why we started Youthoughtism
Lately, there has been a lot of sadness around the world. Covid, the war in Ukraine… You might think, how does that relate to me? Well, everyone has experienced a lot of changes in the past few years, including changing to virtual classes, maybe losing your loved ones etc. These negative things have had a huge impact on us, and what is most affected is our mental health.
One day, we were telling each other about our recent mental health conditions, and we realized how worse our mental health has become through years of lockdown, and we comforted each other. Previously, we haven’t paid attention to our mental health, and now we decided that we must do something to stop it from worsening.
We realized the importance of mental health of people, how it is as important as our physical health, if not even more. We realized how people are not paying any attention to it. We realized how many lives were affected because of it.
Furthermore, we realized the age group most affected are teenagers. Teenagers are still new to the real world, and they struggle a lot. All these have caused them to be stressed, anxious, depressed, you get it. We are lucky. We have each other to comfort, we have someone to listen to our feelings. There are LOTS of teenagers in the world having a worse condition than us, and they don't even have someone to help them solve this issue.
And that’s when we decided to make a change. We, as the lucky ones MUST lend a hand to help the unprivileged, or else who would help them? At first we thought, how? We're just 2 grade 7 girls, how can we make a difference? But then we thought of this idea. We weren't sure if it would actually work, but why not give it a shot?
What Youthoughtism means
Youthoughtism isn’t a real word. But to look at this word, you can split it into 2 meanings:
Youth Thought
This basically means the mental health of youth, aka. Teenagers. As we mentioned above, we realized that teenagers were the most affected, so we’ve decided to focus on that.
2. You Thought
You Thought applies to everyone. This means that the Youthoughtism Community welcomes everyone of different backgrounds.
Our Thoughts about the Current Youthoughtism
Claire:
I'm overjoyed that Youthoughtism has grown so much. Our community, from only around 20 people, grown to almost 200! At the same time, Youthoughtism has truly impacted me, as a student, a lot. Not only did I meet different people, I also got to be closer with them. Making posts and writing blogs have also increased my knowledge on mental health, and it has surely increased my interest in psychology. I have also been taught to think in different perspectives, and through discussions with other organizations, I learnt a lot. I have also learnt how other people are feeling through sharing their experience.
You are now part of the Youthoughtism community, and you are now one of us. I hope that Youthoughtism will become your comfort zone, one that you can express your feelings in, one that can improve your mental health journey. I also hope that Youthoughtism has impacted you as much as it has impacted me.
I would also like to use this opportunity to thank you all for the support, it really means a lot to all of us, and we are extremely grateful to have you here with us. Have a great day, and always remember that you aren't alone!
Madelyn:
I’m really happy that Youthoughtism is not only a community but like a big family, you are a part of us as well! Opening an community with friends is my dream and I finally did this! Through Youthoughtism, I have changed a lot, I have learnt how to make posts, write blogs, write descriptions, have collaborations, have meetings, and we have to have team spirit, etc. And, the most important is that I have known more about mental health and how it affects us and we should be aware of that, I hope that you know more about it too! I hope that Youthoughtism can bring you more information about mental health, and brings you positivity, motivates you. And it can give you a place to share your experience, talk about your feelings, be comfortable with. Also, to give you advice when you need help. Youthoughtism means a lot to me no matter when. Thank you for all the support till now! At last, always remember to be aware of your mental health and our motto, “you are not alone.” If you are new here, welcome to our community!!!!!!!
Our Hopes with Youthoughtism
We hope that through Youthoughtism, you can find your comfort zone in which you can share your feelings with us! We also hope that our posts are informative and makes you know more about mental health. Lastly, we hope that there will be more positivity around the world, and more people will be aware of their mental health!
How can you contribute?
Partner with us!
We love partnering with other organizations/institutions, so if you want to work together with us to achieve our goal (and yours) go ahead and collaborate with us!
You can collaborate with us by filling in this form: https://forms.gle/sAA1raXXmnSQhTLy5
2. Share your experience with us!
By sharing your experience with us, you can tell the Youthoughtism Community your experiences with mental health, and tell them that they aren’t alone! It will help out a lot of people. If you feel down, you can also do that, and the Youthoughtism team will give some advice to you, and comfort you!
You can share your experience with us by either DMing us or filling out this form (preferred):
We currently aren’t officially open for recruitment, but if you want to lend a hand to help us, do DM us / email us, and we can surely offer you something to help with!
Have a great day, and always remember: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!