Tessa Charupatanapongse
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Tessa Charupatanapongse

Bangkok, Thailand

WHAT IS YOUR SPECIFIC AREA OF INTEREST IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY? 

Self advocacy, Stigma advocacy

WHY IS YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Schools teach us that 1+1 is 2 and London in the capital of England, but they neglect teaching mental and emotional wellness. It’s so important for youth to understand their emotions and how to manage themselves – the world would be so much better if we all understood ourselves better.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE MENTAL HEALTH IN YOUR COMMUNITY?

While there have been slow waves of progress, mental health in Thailand is still generally heavily stigmatized and not openly discussed. There’s still a lot to be done to bring awareness to mental health in a genuine way that goes past lip service.

PROPOSED FELLOWSHIP PROJECT

Project: Emotional Awareness for Thai Youth.

When we think about emotions, we think about the main ones - happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. But human emotions are so much more nuanced and complex than those four with research finding that humans can experience up to 34,000 emotions. 

The problem is, we don’t teach our children and youth about these emotions, so they not only find it nearly impossible to name and identify them, but it’s also impossible for them to know how to handle and work through them. Our youth are 

  1. not aware enough and need to better understand themselves and their situation; and 
  2. unable to process how they’re feeling.

The goal of the project is to cultivate a greater awareness of emotions in youth. By being more emotionally aware, they'll be able to better manage themselves and their relationships with those around them and thrive in life.