Jazdil on Racism and Emotional Burnout

Lauren is cofounder and lead editor of the Made of Millions Foundation. She entered the foundation as a volunteer in January of 2016, prior to the launch of their first digital property, IntrusiveThoughts.org. In 2017, she began running the foundation's editorial initiatives. Since then, she’s been responsible for managing all contributed and custom content, social media channels and initiatives, and digital campaigns. She has been vocal about her struggles with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Phobia.

People who fight for human rights are some of the most passionate people on the planet. They care deeply about others, the Earth itself, and the importance of creating a more just world.

But there’s darkness to activism as well. While trying to make the world better, you see the worst of it — violence, hate, disrespect and disregard. It can make you question what you’re doing and wonder... What’s the point? It can also seriously impact your mental health. Stress, burnout, trauma, depression, anxiety and other forms of mental strain are common challenges faced by activists of the past and present. And while being under pressure is not always a bad thing, in the long-term, it can negatively affect a person's overall physical and emotional health. Which in turn, makes their fight for change harder and hard.

That's why we've teamed up with Amnesty International for an ongoing series about activism and mental health. We'll be chatting with Amnesty youth activists from around the world about their personal experiences advocating for change, and how these experiences have impacted their emotional wellbeing. Together we'll shed light on the kinds of challenges today's change-makers face, and hope to uncover potential solutions along the way.