The idea of starmums was born out of a grim and devastating experience that tormented a family. The suicidal death of a loving daughter, affectionate mother and a caring wife not only shattered her family members, but it had an aftermath which was even worse……

The bitter experience was only a reminder that we live in a ‘so-called educated society’; in reality our societies are plagued by myriad of problems; a lot of these problems remain overlooked.

Mental health is one of the biggest social problems, which is striking even the developed societies, not to mention a stigmatised society like Bangladesh. Mental health problem has various forms and in most cases the symptoms exist at a cognitive level caused by – depression, anxiety, stress which are seldom considered as genuine mental health problems. One such poorly understood form of mental health is known as Schizophrenia – a mental disorder characterised by abnormal behaviour and decreased ability to understand reality.

In 2017, a staggering 11,095 people committed suicide in Bangladesh. Of these total, 89% were females. This is an average of 30 suicidal deaths every day and much higher than deaths caused by murders!

Despite the magnitude of suicidal deaths in Bangladesh, there is very limited awareness and even fewer initiatives to tackle such mammoth of a problem. Besides, where basic medical facilities greatly suffer in the face of growing number of regular health issues, mental health is hardly considered as a health issue too grievous to be addressed. As a result, the victims of covert mental health problems largely remain unnoticed. Furthermore, most of victims are reluctant to express their problems being fearful of social seclusion or abandonment.

Starmums is not a panacea to such big problem like suicide, but a tiny step towards raising awareness towards covert mental health problems. At starmums, we believe that spreading love and inspiration can empower women to thrive in the society and catalyse positive changes to their lives. Looking into the brighter side of life, Starmums inspires women to connect, and communicate with each other to receive peer-to-peer support. Using the power of social media and storytelling, Starmums wants to shed light on those problems that stigmatise our society. Starmums inspires women to celebrate motherhood, female-hood and explore the stronger version of themselves.

Prevention of mental health problems require collective action and support from all the stakeholders of our society. If you want to join our mission, then please get in touch.