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Coffee With: Sachi Mahadeo, Miss World experience a form of therapy

Sachi Mahadeo has a consistent direction in life, and it involves meeting challenges head on.
Mahadeo
Former Richmond resident Sachi Mahadeo (above and below left in a Miss World Canada photo) is keen to become a spokesperson for mental health. Photo by Philip Raphael/Richmond News
 

Sachi Mahadeo has a consistent direction in life, and it involves meeting challenges head on.

The 27-year-old, Hugh Boyd secondary grad was back in Richmond briefly a couple of weeks ago from her adopted home in Toronto, subscribing to that credo as a contestant in the Miss World Canada competition held May 16 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver.

She admits her participation in the event was quite a leap for someone who has endured severe bouts of depression, anxiety and personal loss growing up as an only child in an unsettled family environment.

Her father was an alcoholic and controlling, and her parents were on the verge of a formal break up when she lost them both within a span of five weeks back in 2007 — first, her mother due to complications when her cancer returned, and, then, her dad, who suffered a sudden heart attack.

Last year, Mahadeo lost a former boyfriend, who was stabbed to death outside a club in Scarborough, Ontario.

But while recently sipping a ginger tea at the Second Cup at Richmond Centre to help ward off a spring time cold, Mahadeo said that thrusting herself into the spotlight in a national pageant was a form of therapy for those issues. It followed a suggestion from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto where she underwent a four-month treatment program in 2014.

“That involved a lot of talk therapy to help get things out in the open, to sort things out,” said the petite Mahadeo. “It helped me to better deal with things. And one of the things I was taught that the more exposure you have dealing with situations that make you anxious, the better and more comfortable you can become.”

Being on stage for the pageant as one of 50 contestants from across the country certainly met that criteria for getting outside her comfort zone, which up until recently, kept her from even stepping inside restaurants.

Previously when she did, her heart would race. Her body temperature would spike. And a feeling of nausea would envelope her.

“It got to the point that it developed into a phobia that kind of fed on itself, because I’d worry about how people were going to think of me when I was having a panic attack,” said Mahadeo, who earned an honours degree from the University of Toronto, runs her own fashion styling firm in Toronto and likes to maintain a fashion runway ready appearance. “Essentially, I would feel like I just wanted to escape wherever I was.”

Mahadeo’s father immigrated from Guyana in 1964, her mother in 1969. The couple met in Toronto, married in 1972 and moved to Richmond 1982. They had their only child six years later.

Sachi went to Kilgour and McKay elementary schools, where she was one of few “brown kids,” but that was not necessarily a problem for her.

“This was before the big wave of Chinese immigration that started in the early 1990s.”

However, a stressful home life, combined with being an only child, compelled Mahadeo to get involved in her school community. She joined the student council at Hugh Boyd and received two service awards for work with a variety of groups, including the Richmond Youth Service Agency, BC Cancer Foundation, and Richmond Christmas Fund.

But she was barely out of high school when she lost both parents and began a downward spiral that required professional support.

Now, she feels fine -— most of the time.

Heading into a week-long series of rehearsals for the Miss World Canada event did raise some initial apprehensions and old behaviours, but once she was among her fellow competitors, the desire to reach out and lend a hand to quell the nerves of others proved personally beneficial.

“There were times when I asked myself, ‘what did I sign up for?’” she said. “But I feel more comfortable in my skin talking about what I’ve been through, sharing my story.”

It’s something she wants to do more publicly, and her subsequently unsuccessful Miss World Canada bid was the first step in that direction.

“I went through a lot of pain, and I’d like to uplift others who have gone through something similar. Essentially, I want to give hope to others and let them know it’s OK to seek help.”

After experiencing a good dose of “therapy” during the pageant, Mahadeo said one of the things she discovered was a feeling of resilience.

“I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was,” she said.

“People would always tell me I was strong. I didn’t think so. I thought it was just a case of not having any other choice than to bear the situation. But I think everyone has that inner strength — you just have to believe it. Find it and it might surprise you.”