A 19-year-old medical recruitment advisor for the Barts Health, NHS Trust has currently qualified as a Miss England Semi-Finalist on the back of her mental health awareness campaign especially among young Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community.
Ashlyn Matthews, was only 14 years old when she was diagnosed with clinical depression and is now a HR recuritment coordinator born and bought up in London. Originally from Kollam in Kerala, India, she is born and brought up in London. A self-taught Bollywood and Kathak dancer, her dream is to pursue a career as a film director and producer.
“I am currently directing my own short film called Suicide Prevention. Mental health and suicide is a major issue among young people and I know this for a fact that I suffered with mental health and self-esteem issues.
“I decided to direct this movie because I know that a lot of people in our community don't understand the perils of being in such a mental state. I was experiencing suicidal thoughts myself and I was even attempting suicide. Thankfully I recovered but it was a very long journey given the fact I did not think I would overcome such a dark period,” she says.
While the Tory Government is critised for not deploying enough funds to tackle mental health, Theresa May has called for the teacher training sessions to include lessons in identifying children who might have mental health problems and to address issues such as self-harm. At university level, there will be £1m for a competition to come up with innovative ideas to tackle mental health problems among students. NHS staff will be encouraged to take suicide prevention training.
But, Ashlyn believes that little is being done to bridge the gap created due to cultural differences and stigma associated with mental health. Through, the campaign Ashlyn aims to work at the community level and help those like her who are suffering through depression and consequently maybe directed to substance abuse or be influenced by social media posts.
“I don't necessarily think that blocking content on social media would help with the on-going situation and in some cases may even fuel further curiosity to explore such content. I myself saw depressive quotes whilst I was suffering depression and it depends on the time of the day- sometimes I felt more depressed but on other times it virtually had no influence. I believe more interaction with the community is the way to move forward,” she says.
You can support Ashlyn for the Miss England contest by sending: Text MISS SE05 to 63333. Votes cost 50p and standard network charge. voters can only vote up to 30 times a day and you should be voting only in the UK.
