The Beginning of a Vision

During the 2024s, family support groups scattered around the Australian Bangladeshi community were seeking answers and treatments for loved ones affected by mental illness in their native land Bangladesh.

After years of hard work and innovative wishful thinking to help very disadvantaged people in Bangladesh suffering from mental health, a group of Bangladeshis living in Australia led by Fuad Ahmed, transformed a small gathering of families into an organization called Alokito Manush Foundation (AMF), a nonprofit organization that eventually have a dream to help massive amounts of Bangladeshi people.

Local patriots from Bangladesh coming together helped to spur a national movement in the near future. Our thoughts are to facilitate improvement towards mental illness at a national level.

Our journey as we capture some of the many milestones in advocacy, research, education and awareness for disadvantaged people in Bangladesh for Mental Illness.

Mental Health Talks: Starting Point

Depression is a signal, not malfunction of hormones imbalance.
Depression is mood disorder or some sort of disorder in brain and overall state of feeling.
Most of the people live normal life with mild depression or anxiety but severe clinical depression needs to look after by right mental health experts and Experienced Counsellor in right time.

Seek help or acknowledgement for depression is primary challenging factors, then the next stage is to seek prevention and treatment.
Few or several stress with scale of severity leads towards possible depression.
Some people carry some special genes which regulate mood enhancing chemicals called serotonin in brain are more susceptible to be affected by depression quicker.

Types of Depression

Unipolar or major depression which affects 5% of population generally and it’s the most common form of depression.
Also the form is Bipolar depression which symptoms is to much mood ups and downs.

Symptoms of Probable Clinical Depression

Depression is mainly based on present of some symptoms or the absence of a few mental conditions.
There is no particular mechanism to diagnose depression; also, dissecting the brain or blood tests cannot determine the mood disorder or depression.

It is not that someone says that I am so stressed and depressed due to workload, relationships, or other forms of stress; it doesn’t mean anything.

The following are symptoms that indicate possible major depression:

1. Tend to carry a lot of grief and sadness and cry more frequently.

2. Angry outbursts, irritability, or frustration, even over small matters.

3. Lack of enjoying things like before, such as food, friends, hangouts, or sensuality. It always feels like a flat and numbing feeling.

4. Guilt generally feels about the past mistakes or sins, which may cause major depression towards mutilation or suicidal anxiety.

5. Negative delusional thinking Like people may make stories of thinking without real facts. It may cause big confabulation in the brain to elaborate delusional stories of thoughts. Sometimes people are not sick, but they think they are sick or down. Likewise, athletes who broke their ankle or other forms are getting better by treatment, but they are feeling not getting better or not recognising their improvement. These symptoms do not match up with reality and are causing major depression.

6. Vegetative symptoms, constantly being exhausted, worn out, and not having the motivation to feel good. It may be not in the head but may be related to the vegetative nervous system in the brain. Like walking suddenly at night subconsciously, very exhausted but can’t feel sleepy. Architectures between sleep and depression are like early sleep with less blinking towards too much blinking at late night.

7. Slow thinking, speaking, or body movements.

8. Decreases appetite, lack of motivation to eat food to thrive, and gradual weight loss. Also increased cravings for food and weight gain.

9. Switching off or withdrawing from surroundings is also a sign of major depression. Sometimes too much falls into sleeping mode to forget and face reality or gradually withdrawing from friends and family, not engaging and talking, lack of motivation, or loss of purpose.

10. Starvation and malnutrition usually hamper brain chemistry, which could lead to being prone to anxiety and depression.

11. Unable to take the solid decision and prone to changing mindsets most often, feeling confusion because of a lack of reward or validation.

12. Extreme helplessness or dreadful feelings.

13. Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches.

14. Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts.

Everyday Activities to Minimise Mental Stress

There are some following few tips and everyday activities to calibrate our lifestyle and habits, which help to minimise mental stress and eventually help to get out of major depression.

1. Healthy food

2. Exercise; get out from the everyday routine, which becomes boring.

3. Sleep well, quality sleep from 10pm to 4pm; early risers are very great.

4. Fixing and cleaning home interiors regularly.

5. Dressings are good to feel confident and comfortable.

6. Meditation, yoga, and self-concentration.

7. Create a hobby to feel better, like gardening, cooking, etc.

8. If Muslim, exercise regular rituals.

9. Readjusting mental platforms and plans.

10. Get out from narcissistic behaviour.

11. Locate and reflect regularly with Almighty Allah SWT for heart disease, like envy, extreme jealousy, showing-off tendencies, or ostentatious behaviour.

12. Habit of listening power and power to stop arguing for every statement.

13. Make quality friends.

14. Make life simple and content.

15. Try to get out of the habit of validation, like respect, everyday work from close ones and others.

16. Modesty, humility, and overall love are the main foundations. These days, most of the time, people are depressed because of loveless lives, which triggers loneliness and withdrawal symptoms. Be loved and spread love to humanity.

17. Find an alternative solution for a persistent trauma and help each other as a family to overcome that by taking a positive drive to rectify.

18. Open communication environments; if it is verbally not easy, text or write.

19. Dwelling on past regrets and conflicts, holding on to resentment makes you drained; just let it free to continue moving forward.

20. Avoid competition in a way that I am better than your attitude.

21. Try not to compare too much for everyday work and responsibilities.

22. Embraces nature, walking in wood or drizzle of rain to soak your heart clean.

23. Make a weekly peer meeting to share each other’s feelings face to face, not by fake social media platforms.

24. To break anything is easy, but to repair it is so hard. Extramarital affairs for a long time, extremely abusive relationships are the red line, but clashes for ego and heart disease are not red lines for breakups of relationships. If love still persists, keep trying for resolution. I am not a good fan of the breakup idea. Sometimes two good people make it hard to get along together because some personalities clash.

25. Make it a habit to say hello to the next-door neighbour and give a hug or kiss to your close one and friends. Simple touch is so powerful for inner happiness.

26. Follow the middle path or balance life.

27. Too much expectation and attachment is hurtful. Make a good balance.

28. Finally acknowledge the abundance of blessings surrounding us and give thanks to our almighty. Shukr and sabr, gratitude and perseverance, are two main pillars to overcome a lot of mental illness.

29. Get out of the addiction to social media; at the end of the day, it is fake. People become self-centred, selfish, and robotic due to this addiction. People stop to see surrounding real people and stop interaction. Give more, be a charitable person, engage in volunteer jobs, and don’t strive for everything for money and fame and look for happiness only with those two parameters.

30. Regain the losses of self-identity, try to find out who you are, and look for real purpose in life accordingly. Sometimes a lack of purpose and an identity crisis put us in depression.

31. Get out of the habit of arrogance; it is the last thing in life and makes a huge amount of dirt in the heart.

32. Listen to your heart more often than your head’s reasonings. Those things come from the head; that’s why people become judgemental. It is the triggering point of depression.

33. Less expectation; if it’s hampered, just ask for it. Don’t build it up in yourself.

34. Make a habit of saying sorry and thank you. Those two simple words are sometimes very valuable.

35. Don’t make a transactional relationship. Do not make yourself a robot. Family is all about we, meaning bonding of love, care, and compromise. It must be flexible and understanding like generative drives.

36. Habit of giving rather than taking

37. Life of simplicity and contentment, it generates gratitude and care for others.

38. Knock on heart more often, rational thoughts in head less

39. Kept checking unnecessary anxiety and tension levels, which diminishes happiness and causes major destruction of generative drive. Give some space in tense moments and try to keep quiet.

40. Gentle behaviour or modesty doesn’t mean you are weak and don’t have personality. It is the bottom line and then thrives for resilience of personality.

41. Open communication is a vital tool for happy relationships and a great mindset.

42. Don’t be feeling guilty when you talk about anxiety and depression; everyone in their span of life feels depressed and sad at some point. It is God-given, and sometimes it’s a blessing to revisit and recognise our faults and shortcomings.

43. Don’t get bored in relationships.

44. Engage and motivate people rather than complain and compare.

45. So-called Islamic clerics say if someone is Muslim, depression can’t happen; it’s the production of Shaitan or evil, complete misinformation. Lots of prophets were depressed during their life span, including our beloved Prophet Mohammed (SAW). Also, there are some sayings or Kushanksker available that Jin poses on someone. We believe in Jin as a Muslim, but some people take some advantage.

46. Qulbul Selim and never tell a lie, the final two words that can make you different, Allah SWT placed them into the highest place in Jannah.

47. Placebo effect

48. Engaged partnership

Our Vision

Alokito Manush Foundation (AMF) envisions a dream where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.

Our Mission

AMF provides advocacy, education, support, and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives.

Our Values

• Hope and dream: We believe in the possibility of recovery, wellness, and the potential in all of us.

• Inclusion: We embrace diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives at levels in the community.

• Empowerment: We promote confidence, self-efficacy and service to our mission.

• Compassion: We practice respect, kindness, and empathy.

• Fairness: We fight for equity and justice from poor to rich populations regardless of necessity.

• Elevate real thought: We help to get out of superstitions and remedies for mental health in remote areas and provide simple explanations among local disadvantaged people to overcome long-standing misconceptions.

• Voice: Our conversations and communication entail the same voice and the same clarity with remote people’s language.

Who We Are

Alokito Manush Foundation (AMF) is the nation’s premier grassroots mental health organisation dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Bangladeshis affected by mental illness.

What started as a small group of families gathered around in 2024 and has a dream to blossom into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. We have bigger goals to make a successful alliance with local affiliates and root-level communities who can serve as volunteers to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At this forum, we believe a diverse, inclusive, and equitable organisation (or alliance) is one where employees, volunteers, and members—regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, education, disability, veteran status, or other dimension of diversity—feel valued and respected.

What We Do

We Educate

We tend to offer thousands of communities across Bangladesh through AMF (Alokito Manush Foundation) and AMF Affiliates. Our education programme ensures hundreds of families, individuals, and educators get the support and information they need.

We Support

Throughout the country, our AMF affiliates host support groups for both those with mental illness and carers so that no one feels alone in their mental health journey.

We Advocate

AMF honours national public policy in Bangladesh for people with mental illness and their families and provides volunteers with necessary tools, resources, and skills to spread mental health awareness in all places.

We Listen

A helpline via the website to connect us to respond personally to hundreds of requests for help, providing free information and support—a much-needed lifeline for many.

We Lead

We envision doing public awareness events and activities, including Mental Illness Awareness Week, successfully to fight stigma and encourage understanding of mental health in the near future. AMF works with stakeholders on a regular basis to make sure our country understands how important mental health is and its relevance journey.

AMF encourages voluntary support and contributions, even very small contributions, to support our important work.