Homecoming: Mental Health Journeys of Resilience, Healing and Wholeness

About the Book A POWERFUL COLLECTION OF REAL STORIES OF INDIAN WOMEN THAT CHALLENGES MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA AND INSPIRES HEALING THROUGH TRUTH, VULNERABILITY AND EMPATHY. This evocative collection weaves together lived experiences of women in urban India who have been navigating severe mental health conditions, from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, complex PTSD, suicide loss and suicidality to trauma, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, OCD and ADHD. Emerging from spaces that are not always safe or supportive, they challenge the label of 'brokenness' and help reshape prevailing perspectives on the idea of wholeness. They also have the capacity to inform and inspire change in how families, communities, workplaces and even mental health professionals understand and respond to mental health conditions. Each woman's account holds up a mirror to society's discomfort with mental illness-questioning biases, unlearning stereotypes and naming invisible strengths that often go unnamed. Collectively, they create a tapestry of vulnerability and resilience, inspiring others to walk the path of pain to purpose. Beyond tokenism, this book opens up possibilities, and an opportunity to truly embrace and internalise these learnings in the context of other lives; and the courage and validation needed for us to go into our own dark corners and heal those invisible parts of ourselves that we may have left behind. About the Authors A serial entrepreneur across the creative and social sector, Neha Kirpal founded the India Art Fair and ran it for a decade from 2008 to 2018 before joining Amaha as co-founder to build what is today India's largest mental health service, with an in-house team of 200+ therapists and psychiatrists delivering care across 600 cities. Today, Amaha has eight out-patient centres in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, recently opening its first thirty-bed mental healthcare hospital. Amaha came together with Children First-a specialist child and youth mental health service-in 2021. In 2023, Neha was instrumental in the inception of the IMHA as part of the founding cohort, now representing over 200 member organisations. An Aspen and Eisenhower Fellow, she is part of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders community. Neha received NDTV's Indian of the Year award, Business Today's India's Most Powerful Women award and the prestigious Nari Shakti Award given by the President of India. Neha is a global mental health ambassador, a speaker, an author and single mother. Dr Nandini Murali is a mental health advocate, gender and development practitioner, and thought leader in suicide postvention. Following her husband's suicide, she transformed personal loss into purpose through SPEAK, Project SPEAK and SPEAK2Us (9375493754)-initiatives of the MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, Madurai. Project SPEAK is a pioneering, community-based postvention model supporting rural women bereaved by suicide. A certified life coach and author of Left Behind, Dr Murali also integrates lived experience, gender equity and trauma awareness to challenge stigma, foster healing and drive systemic change-ensuring no one grieving suicide loss is left behind. Read more