The Upper School MIST (Mental Illness Support for Teenagers) organization produced their second newsletter in August, and this issue focused on beauty standards and mental health. MIST founders Shelly Bhagat ’22 and Siri Battula ’22 edited the newsletter, and fellow MICDS student contributors included Selina Balci ’22, Amelia Markwell ’22, Emma Scally ’22, and Morgan Weber ’21.
Bhagat shared, “Over the summer, Siri and I were able to interview a mental health professional, Meredith Rose, from the St. Louis area. We asked her questions that were collected anonymously by students about beauty standards.” Highlights of the interview can be found in the MIST newsletter and the entire article can be found here.
Here’s a look at the table of contents with topics written about by MICDS students:
- Eating Disorders
- Body Perception: It’s All in the Mind
- Makeup and Mental Health
- Barbie: The “Ideal” Woman?
- Q&A Highlights with Mental Health Professional Meredith Rose
- Exercise: How Much is Too Much?
- The Art of Cancel Culture
- How Gender Roles Affect Body Image and Mental Health
- Ug!y: A Narrative
- The Unspoken Costs of Dieting
- How to Get Involved with MIST
Read the full newsletter here.
Bhagat’s own story with MIST was recently published in two blogs. Check out her story on the “Recovery Program Solutions of Virginia Blog” and on the student-run literary journal called “Polyphony Lit” for which she is an editor and blogger.