Pageant finalist raises mental health awareness

GEELONG local and Miss Galaxy Australia finalist Mitali Sharma is using the pageant stage to talk about something far more complex than gowns and sashes: the quiet, often hidden reality of mental health.

Before moving to Australia at 17, Sharma said she was a very outgoing and active person.

But the reality of settling into a new country brought homesickness and emotional ups and downs

“I started shutting myself down,” Sharma said.

On the surface, she appeared to be managing it all.

“I was doing everything – working and studying – but still I felt that void inside,” Sharma said.

At the time, Sharma said, she lacked both the language and the outlet to express what she was feeling.

“I didn’t have anyone to talk to,” Sharma said.

 

“I tried to tell people close to me that this is what I’m going through, but nobody understood.

“I decided I have to get out of that space, because if I shut down today, I will be living my life like that forever and I don’t want to live a life like that.”

That changed when she took part in mental health workshops through Miss Galaxy Australia, which helped her put her experience into words.

It challenged her assumptions about pageantry.

“I always thought that pageants are all about beauty,” Sharma said. “This pageant is really a pageant with a purpose.

“Miss Galaxy Australia gave me a platform and also the confidence to share.”

Hearing others speak openly also reshaped her perspective.

“They made me feel like it’s normal to feel that way,” Sharma said. “Being stressed and being depressed, it’s okay and we all can come out of that space.”

Now, she talks about that experience openly.

“No matter what kind of state you are in, you can always get out of it,” Sharma said. “It’s never the end of the world. Anybody can open up and anybody can get out of that state, you just take one little step at a time.”