Khai

Introduction

Mental health is something that has become deeply personal to me in the past year. 

Last year, I went through an incredibly difficult period in my life where things became very dark, and I reached a point I never thought I would find myself in.

I was fortunate to have people around me, to seek professional help and therapy, and to slowly find my way forward. That experience changed the way I look at mental health. It taught me that someone can be surrounded by people, go to work, laugh, train, travel and seemingly live normally while quietly fighting something nobody else can see.

For 20 hours, I’ll have no phone, no conversations and none of the distractions we normally use to fill our days. It’ll just be myself, my thoughts, a pen and a journal. It’s a small challenge compared with what it can feel like to struggle silently every day, but that’s exactly why this means something to me.

I’m doing this for the people who are struggling quietly, for the people who don’t know how to ask for help, and for the people who might need someone to notice that they’re not themselves.

If sharing a little of my own experience and spending 20 hours in silence can help raise money, start a conversation, or make even one person feel comfortable enough to reach out to someone, then those 20 hours will be worth it.

Sometimes the people who seem okay are the ones who need someone to check in the most. 

If you are in a position to do so, I would be incredibly appreciative of any donation you can make towards this cause. No matter the amount, your support will help 20Talk continue the important work they do around mental health and help create conversations that could make a genuine difference in someone’s life. Thank you for supporting a cause that means so much to me.

20 Hours of Silence for Youth Mental Health.

I’m taking on the 20 Hours for 20Talk Challenge which will see me sitting in a 2×2 metre square in a warehouse, alongside 400 other participants, with no talking and no technology for 20 hours. All I’ll have are the essentials I bring with me: a chair, sleeping mat, journal, water, and food. No distractions.