Following an intercontinental move from India to the United States in 2017, Krishnni Khanna ‘25 experienced bullying and alienation as she adapted to life in a new country. Despite her best efforts, Krishnni felt like her life had taken a turn for the worse.

A few years later, after gaining a deeper understanding of her emotions and mental health, Krishnni gained more confidence and made close friends. But when recalling her experiences, she discovered a need to support others facing the same mental health struggles. As a result, during a visit to India in the summer of 2022, she took the opportunity to create a new, mental health-oriented organization: designing a website, consulting with mental health professionals, and hosting workshops.

“During those three or four years of me struggling with my mental health, I didn’t feel like I had a safe space or somewhere I could feel comfortable talking to someone or sharing my problems,” Krishnni said. “That was my main motivation [for founding the organization], I wanted other people to have a safe space for themselves.”

To form this safe space, Krishnni founded Detoximind, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide preteens, teens, and young adults with mental health information, as well as a safe space for them to share their experiences.

“The point [of Detoximind] is to spread more awareness on mental health and make people feel [safe], and [able] to learn about various mental health topics so they understand themselves and people around them better,” Krishnni said.

Krishnni originally worked alone, creating schedules and setting goals to manage her time. Despite the fact that she had never built a website before, her organization had a fairly smooth start. Since then, she has recruited three more staff members—all Westwood students—who work as social media managers.

“I hope to expand the team, but right now, the four of us are working [together] pretty well,” Krishnni said. “I help if they need it, and we have meetings. I’m the one usually watching over, making sure everyone’s on the right track.”

Some of the Detoximind app’s features include blogs, personal journals, and meditation audios, and Krishnni is planning to begin a podcast on various mental health topics. The Detoximind website also has a feature called “What’s My Story”, where people can share their struggles with mental health, as well as tips for those going through the same thing, in order to build a sense of community.

“The main thing I’d want [people] to know [about the website] is that it’s very easy to access help,” Krishnni said. “On the app and the website you [also] have suicide hotlines. You’ll have people to talk to. You have ways to express yourself and feel safe sharing your struggles and accepting them.”

Detoximind’s initiative is organizing workshops, where mental health professionals present on specific topics and host discussions and interactive activities. In India, Krishnni held two workshops. The first, which was targeted towards adolescents, covered emotions and bullying among teenagers. The second, which was for adults, was about past-life regression and unresolved trauma. Krishnni hopes to hold events in the United States soon but has faced challenges.

“In India, it was easier [to organize workshops] because my parents and I are familiar with more people there,” Krishnni said. “It’s easier to find mental health professionals [and] facilitators for workshops and events. Hopefully, in the next month or so, we start doing events in the U.S. I want this organization to have as many events as possible.”

Krishnni hopes to aid others in preventing and overcoming the effects of poor mental health. She believes that taking care of yourself contributes to a safe, more positive community since your mental health can affect the mental health of those around you.

“Mental health is fundamental for every aspect of life, so it’s important to help people so that they can deepen their understanding of their own mental health and work on it,” Krishnni said. “We also want to provide aid [and] guide [people] through their struggles so they become better individuals and feel better.”

Although Detoximind currently only holds workshops for preteens to young adults, Krishnni hopes to expand the organization in the future.

“For now, this community is the first step,” Krishnni said. “Once we grow and more people know about us, hopefully, we can expand our workshops and do more events in different places.”