"am i too broken?" And other questions of this generation: a conversation with mental health advocate Aryana Altaha

Seventeen year old Aryana Altaha is just like any other high schooler: she is an avid speech and debater, K drama fan and academic weapon. Unlike most teenagers, however, Aryana is mental health advocate and author with a combined following of more than 85K followers on TikTok and Instagram.

We caught up with Aryana and asked her about her journey.

---

Why did you start your social media account?

I realized there was not much representation among youth about mental health on social media. This frustrated me because I struggled significantly with my mental health but it slowly improved.

When was struggling however, I genuinely thought that it would not improve.

I wish that I had that representation when I was struggling so that I knew that I was not hopeless.

I decided to be that representation for others.

What motivated you to write your book "am i too broken?" ?

I used to write poetry as a way to release all my pent up emotions, it was a great coping mechanism for me. Ive always wanted to release a book, but I actually released it because society views vulnerability and speaking up about their own emotions as weak. Its not.

Releasing this book meant I would be extremely vulnerable in front of thousands of people.

I was terrified.

But, I knew it was important to show people that vulnerability is not weak.

You are not alone and it does get better.

---

In the future Aryana hopes to be a motivational speaker, as well as starting a mental health business.

Currently, Aryana has released her book "am i too broken?" which contains 145 poems aiming to de-stigmatize mental health as well as recently launching a mental health discord which aims to be a safe space for individuals to vent, as well as providing the public with various mental health resources.

Purchase Aryanas book : a.co/d/5kCjZku

Join her discord: discord.gg/xqJ4E7MFSOCIALS:

---

Social Media:

Follow Aryana on Instagram [@askaryana]: https://www.instagram.com/ask.aryana/

Follow Aryana on TikTok[@ask.aryana] : tiktok.com/@askaryana?lang=en

Follow Aryana on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgi-2ciehYyw1JVqjNEKKrg

Follow Aryanas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aryana-altaha/