Khaliya: What if Most of What We Knew About Mental Health Was Wrong? (Transcript)

Khaliya

Full transcript of philanthropist and public health specialist Khaliya Aga Khan’s TEDx Talk: What if Most of What We Knew About Mental Health Was Wrong? at TEDxBeaconStreet conference. Khaliya Aga Khan is a philanthropist, venture capitalist, public health specialist and active advocate for social change.

Notable quote from the talk:

“What we need in this case, as in the case of more mental injuries, is to harness the power of neuroplasticity. Psychiatric medications, for the most part, shackle the brain and control the level of neurotransmitters but don’t necessarily create a change in behavior and don’t necessarily create a change in the person.”

Khaliya Aga Khan – Philanthropist & public health specialist

My name is Khaliya, and as they said, I am a Columbia University-trained public health specialist focusing on mental health.

What is mental health?

In a nutshell, mental health is the absence of mental illness, just as being healthy is the opposite of being sick.

But in physical health, there is not just sick and not sick. You can be injured. You can be healing. There aren’t really words like that in mental health.