In one of my favorite TED Talks, Psychologist Guy Winch describes the concept of “emotional hygiene”—the routine of tending to your emotional state, akin to bandaging a cut after a scrape. His talk reflected how automatic the habit of rubbing salt on emotional wounds can be when we blame ourselves for negative emotions. Our personal mental health affects the mental health of those around us, and vice versa. Actively encouraging therapy, supporting our loved ones through their mental health journeys, and educating one another on mental health topics are a few practical solutions we can implement as a society to improve the mental wellbeing of individuals and communities. I believe the most important solution is destigmatizing conversations about mental health. Last summer, I had the opportunity to design a mental health awareness program for Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) patients and students at a community health center. My project partner and I were interested in learning more about the intersectional experiences of AAPI individuals related to mental health and discrimination during COVID-19. Over the course of three months, we organized speakers and discussions for mental health topics ranging from depression to the role of cultural norms on mental health. At first, there was a discomfort around discussing mental health issues. However, as the program went on, we noticed that participants slowly became more comfortable and began to contribute more to discussions. The snowball effect was evident—after the discussions, the patients would go on to share what they had learned with family and friends. What if problems affecting society—such as drug misuse, shootings, physical or verbal abuse, and domestic violence—could be resolved by having more open mental health conversations? It is my hope that our future involves happier and healthier communities that are not afraid to talk about mental health.