A Young Woman's Compassionate Campaign

Her welfare work shows that empathy can turn individual pain into collective change.

- Gowher Bhat

Zeenat Ashraf learned early that silence can weigh more than words.

In her teenage years, mornings were long and heavy. She would wake after restless nights, sit at the edge of her bed, and feel a pressure she could not name.

People told her to be strong, pray more, and keep busy.

None of it helped.

"It felt like I was drowning, but no one could see me struggle," she says. "When someone has a fever, we rush to medicine. When someone breaks an arm, we take them to the hospital. When the heart and mind are breaking, people tell you to be brave and move on."

The first time she recognized a way forward came unexpectedly.

She watched a television talk show, one of those rare programs that allowed someone to speak honestly about mental health.

The person on screen described depression, fear, the invisible weight of pain, and recovery. Zeenat felt an unfamiliar recognition. "I realized I was not weak," she says. "I was wounded. Wounds need care, not shame."

She took the first brave steps: therapy, journaling, and reading.