Ep. 93 Turning Mental Health into an Everyday Conversation with Advocate and Activist Achea Redd
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Happy #SeekTheJoy Tuesday!
On the podcast this week is Achea Redd, a mental health advocate, author of Be Free Be You and founder of Real Girls F.A.R.T.
Achea uses her life experience and mental health disorder to help women find their voice and let it out. Those goals are central to her new book, Be Free. Be You. She is the official sponsor of Nationwide Children’s Hospital On Our Sleeves Movement.
In this week’s new episode we chat about Achea’s mental health journey, the breakdown that led to her breakthrough, and the inspiration behind Real Girls F.A.R.T. [Fearless, Authentic, Rescuer, Trailblazer]. Achea shares how we can begin removing the stigma around mental health, the important role of education in conversations around mental health, compassion, and racism, her tips for speaking to children about racism, police brutality, and what’s going on in the world, encouraging truth-telling, and educating ourselves on Black joy and accomplishments too. Plus, we talk about how Achea’s navigating her own experience while being of service to others, why it’s important to be mindful about what information you’re taking in online, her go-to affirmation, her biggest dream, and so much more!
I loved connecting with Achea and I’m so happy that we sat down to have this conversation! I can’t wait to hear what you think. Make sure to join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
“Education, in my opinion, is one of the most powerful weapons that we can yield in the correct way and use it to reverse stigma, or eradicate stigma. Where we are right now in the country, with all of the racial inequality, education is a huge part of it. It’s the same with mental health because in a lot of ways, the mental health stigma and racial stuff have that thing in common where nobody wants to talk about it.”
“The reason why I came up with those words for the acronym F.A.R.T. is because fart is a word that we have been taught as young women we don’t say, we don’t do, it’s not lady like! There’s a stigma, much like there is around the conversation about mental health. Mental health is not pretty, and neither are farts but they still happen! It’s still part of life, it’s part of the human experience.”
In early 2016, Achea Redd was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. After hiding her condition out of fear and shame, Achea quickly realized it was only getting worse, affecting her physically to the point of a nervous breakdown. It wasn’t until she acknowledged the situation with her loved ones, seeking out treatment from her therapist and doctor, that things started to get better.
As a form of self-expression and healing, Achea Redd created her own blog, sharing her feelings about mental health and authenticity. The flow of support she received from the community compelled her to create Real Girls F.A.R.T.—a space to empower and equip women with the necessary tools to use their voices and become their best, most authentic selves.
Achea uses her life experience and mental health disorder to help women find their voice and let it out. Those goals are central to her new book Be Free. Be You – the story of an indomitable woman who believes in the journey to wholeness and happiness through loving and embracing your real authentic self. With humor, empathy, and honesty, Achea takes readers through the ups and downs of her own life and uses her story to show you the path to self-love and authenticity.
“For me, [not educating] wasn’t going to be my angle or my approach. I was going to make it my business because I’ve been blessed with the platform I have to help educate with love, not with hate or anger or by calling everybody racist, but by trying to bring unity, and understanding that we can’t accomplish any of this apart, we have to come together to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”
Real Girls F.A.R.T. exists to empower and equip women with the necessary tools to use their voices and become their best, most authentic selves. RGF sets out to form a tribe—a safe space where women can come together via local events and online to celebrate their wins, cheer others on and share moments of vulnerability.
This safe space—a place where people can actually talk and vent—will ultimately lead more people to treatment. Through RGF, people will gain awareness of their condition, seek help, then be able to return to feel heard and whole. Because if you truly want to change the culture as it relates to mental and behavioral health, you must treat it holistically. Real Girls F.A.R.T. is determined to keep the conversation going.
To learn more about Achea and Real Girls F.A.R.T. visit their website www.realgirlsfart.com and you can connect with Achea on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and you can find more about her book here
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