“Never in a million years did I think I’d be diagnosed with a mental disorder. But my university years have been incredibly challenging and I had to learn all sorts of coping strategies; something our culture has never been able to teach us. I realized if it happens to me, then it could happen to anyone.” — Ally Salama, CEO and Founder of Empower Magazine and co-founder of VisitEgypt.
The first mental health magazine in Egypt has just launched. Has a subject crucial to our health that we’re too afraid, ashamed, or neglectful of, finally come out in the open?
“Empower Magazine has always been a dream of mine,” said Ally Salama, the nonprofit magazine’s founder and CEO. “I have always been deeply affected by mental health related issues,” he continued. “I was triggered by my clinical depression diagnosis in 2017. That was when I had to fight and overcome a lot.”
Via Ally Salama
According to Salama, the magazine will back its content by scientific evidence and will be stripped of any religious affiliations. But it will also entertain some beliefs like Salama’s that “the soul and psyche are two separate things but as a culture we abuse that notion and suffer majorly as a consequence.”
Empower aims to cater to adolescents and young adults from the Middle East who are between 16 and 28 years of age. All the articles are in English right now but that’s not Salama’s long-term plan. “Due to the limited resources at hand, to have a bilingual platform, we acknowledge that we’ll be excluding many of the Middle East’s demographics. As soon as we have the capabilities to launch the platform in Arabic, however, we will do so instantly,” he clarified.
With a team of seven writers (including Salama himself), Salama takes care of the magazine’s Social Media outlets and its business development aspects. “I am also looking for passionate individuals to join our team as we build the magazine, from the ground up.”
Via Ally Salama
“I held a promise to myself that if I was going to overcome it, I would pursue all my efforts in helping people from my ethnic background overcome it as well. Since we all struggle in silence, I somehow convinced myself that I would have to do something to end it,” emphasized Salama.
Salama is now wrapping up his final year at the Ted Rogers School of Management, studying Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “After that, I plan to dedicate my life to Empower, with a plan in getting my NLP practitioners designation.”
When I asked him where he believes our aversion to taking care of our mental health comes, he said: “Health is mental and physical. People confuse mental health for religion. That is where the whole issue lies.”
