“I’m so proud to share some big news. I’ve officially joined the Whau Mental Health Research Foundation as an ambassador.
This is something that feels incredibly aligned with both my personal journey and the work I have been doing publicly through my podcast Pretty Depressed Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege of having open honest conversations about anxiety depression and the complex mental health experiences that so many of us carry often in silence.
Alongside these conversations I’ve been on my own journey navigating mental health fertility challenges and hormonal complications. What I kept coming back to time and time again was this huge gap in research and understanding around women’s health. Especially when it comes to how our physical wellbeing and hormonal health impacts our mental wellbeing.
Women are often dismissed or misdiagnosed. Our experiences are minimized and our systems are built on research that has largely overlooked us. That needs to change.
That is why I am so excited to be working alongside the Whau Foundation to help launch a brand new fund dedicated specifically to women’s mental health research here in Aotearoa. With real science-backed research we can build better support systems that truly reflect the reality of women’s lives from puberty to post-menopause and everything in between.
Whau Foundation is named after the NZ native Whau tree that provides shelter for other species to grow and thrive, and their mission is to create a future where mental health care is based on evidence, compassion and deep understanding. The Foundation funds cutting-edge research led by world-class teams across New Zealand and works to challenge the stigma and outdated thinking that still surrounds mental health.
It is a privilege to stand with this group of passionate researchers, advocates and changemakers and to contribute to something that I believe will make a real lasting difference.
Let’s do this together.”
Words by Kim Crossman
#MentalHealthMatters #WomensHealth #WhauFoundation #PrettyDepressedPodcast #RealResearchRealChange
