About two decades back when Priya Hiranandani Vandrevala lost her uncle to suicide and witnessed several family members struggling with mental illnesses, she came to terms with the harsh realities of the subject and the stigma and resistance attached to it, especially in India. Hiranandani-Vandrevala, who lived in the United States, decided to do something about it to aid in equipping a dynamic network of support in the Indian subcontinent. In 2009, Hiranandani-Vandrevala started her impactful work towards this initiative and has worked together with several agencies in the country to design not just awareness programmes but establish strategies to assist those whose struggles exceed for years at length. In an interview with SheThePeople, Priya Hiranandani Vandrevala discusses frameworks designed to deal with mental health challenges in India, how her Vandrevala Foundation brings shifts in this regard, why conversations around stigma matter, and how suicide prevention helplines are a need of the hour.
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