It's OK To Talk

Overview

It’s Ok To Talk is a national digital youth mental health initiative that creates safe, inclusive spaces for young people to speak up, share, and seek support. Launched in India in 2017, the program began as a web-based platform paired with community engagement activities—offering a supportive digital space for youth, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, to address mental health challenges openly.

Co-designed with young people aged 15–24, It’s Ok To Talk features a bilingual (English and Hindi) digital library of personal stories from individuals who have experienced mental health struggles—inviting visitors to share their own journeys and foster collective understanding. In 2022, the initiative evolved into an open-access digital intervention for youth aged 16–24, reaching students in schools, universities, and online spaces who experience depression or anxiety.

Today, It’s Ok To Talk continues to grow as a vibrant movement that blends lived experience storytelling, creative arts, and digital media to make it truly okay to talk about mental health. These include:

• It’s Ok To Talk: A campaign and website platform to build awareness about mental health through narratives of young people. www.itsoktotalk.in

• Mann Mela: A multimedia web museum of young people’s stories, videos, and psychoeducation materials. www.mannmela.in

• DIYouth Advocacy: A do-it-yourself toolkit created with youth and aimed at empowering youth to advocate for mental health rights. www.diyouthadvocacy.in

• Outlive: A suicide prevention program for young people through awareness building, peer support, and advocacy training. www.outlive.in 

• Baatcheet: A research program to develop a web-based storytelling intervention to reduce anxiety, depression, and social disability among youth. 

Rationale

India has the world’s largest population of 16-24-year-olds and mental ill-health is the leading health concern for this group, causing distress and disruption to education, employment and community participation. These impacts have far-reaching implications in a country where youth productivity drives social and economic growth. Fewer than 10% of youth with common mental health problems (anxiety and depression) can access care due to resource constraints and demand-side barriers such as pervasive stigma.