Mental Health & Wellbeing

MENTAL WEALTH:

Reclaim. Rebuild. Rise.

Mental health is personal. Mental wealth is collective.

The MENTAL WEALTH: Reclaim. Rebuild. Rise. campaign is a leadership-led, culturally intelligent movement launched by the National Black Women’s Network and SistaTalk. It was born from a single truth, women of colour are carrying the emotional cost of systems they didn’t design and they are still expected to lead with grace.

This campaign reframes mental health as more than recovery. It’s about capacity. Sustainability. Legacy. And the urgent need for healing systems, not just resilient individuals.

Why We Must Lead Mental Health Conversations from the Inside Out

In every movement, there’s a moment when the story changes. When awareness gives way to architecture. When silence is no longer survivable. For Black and minority ethnic women, that moment is now  and it’s not just personal, it’s neurological.

Let’s begin with a fact from neuroscience. Trauma doesn’t just happen to us it rewires us.

The amygdala, the brain’s fear centre, goes into overdrive. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, begins to dim. Memory becomes fragmented. Logic short-circuits.

This is not a metaphor. This is what happens when you’ve endured narcissistic abuse, survived financial control or lived in systems that gaslight your very existence at home, online or in the workplace.

What Emotional Abuse Really Looks Like: Stories Behind the Data

It’s easy to speak in percentages. It’s harder to speak from the gut!

When we say emotional abuse affects 95% of domestic violence survivors in the UK (Women’s Aid), what does that really mean? It means women like the London entrepreneur whose partner insisted on 'managing her schedule,' slowly cutting her off from clients and family under the guise of support. By the time she realised she was being controlled, he had access to her business passwords and financial accounts.

In India, where NIMHANS research shows high under reporting of psychological abuse, women are often discouraged from speaking out due to family honour. One woman, a dentist and mother, shared in an interview that her husband routinely humiliated her in front of patients.

But when she approached her elders for help, she was told, "He’s stressed. Just be patient."

Narcissistic Abuse in the Lives of Women Who Lead

They sit on panels. They run boardrooms. They mentor others. And yet, they go home to partners who undermine them, isolate them or emotionally deplete them before the morning coffee is brewed.

For too many women in leadership,  particularly Black, Asian and ethnically minoritised women  narcissistic abuse hides behind wedding rings, polished Instagram profiles and professional partnerships. What begins as validation becomes surveillance. What looked like loyalty becomes control. And because the world sees her success, few suspect the emotional warfare she’s navigating behind the scenes.

This is not about weakness. It’s about proximity to power. Narcissistic abusers are often drawn to accomplished women because controlling a leader validates their own insecurity. And culturally, women are often trained to endure rather than expose. Especially in African, Caribbean, South Asian and diasporic households, the message is “Don’t embarrass the family. Stay quiet.…

Beyond Survival: Why National Mental Health Month Must Be a Turning Point!

Every May, we are invited to pause and think about mental health.

For many, this means campaigns, hashtags, curated conversations and branded commitments to 'raising awareness.'

Yet studies show that awareness alone does not translate into better outcomes for marginalised groups.

The Mental Health Foundation (UK) has noted that people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds are less likely to receive mental health support despite experiencing higher rates of mental distress.