Why We Started Spice Up Your Mind
On April 5th of 2021, during our freshman year at UT, we suffered the loss of our close friend and roommate Farhan Towhid in a tragic murder-suicide where he took the lives of both himself and his family.
We both processed his passing differently. Anger, sadness, confusion. And as school went on, we reflected a lot on our time together, a period riddled with adjustment and COVID-19 isolation. Farhan was struggling with a variety of inadequately treated mental illnesses. However, like so many members of the South Asian-American community, his parents lacked the tools, resources, and education necessary for providing Farhan the care he needed.
In understanding the impact of these environmental factors and structural barriers to effective care, we agreed on using our experience as a vehicle for positive change. It was then that we founded MHISA: a youth-led, grassroots nonprofit that equips South Asians with information to better process, understand, and navigate the mental health black box.
Knowledge is empowering. Part of understanding mental health is to express empathy for those who are unable to receive effective care — to learn not to fear mental illness as a sibling, parent, friend, or affected individual, and to employ systems that connect those struggling with the resources they need.
— Ravi Parekh and Aaron Pandian, Co-Founders