Dr Elena Syurina is an Assistant professor in the fields of Transdisciplinary Mental Health and Global Mental health at the Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 

Elena has participated in a range of projects dealing with improving the quality of life of people with (develop)mental disorders. Among them were: support for women with psycho-social disabilities in Kenya to find employment and an investigation of healthcare experiences of autistic females.

She has been interested in understanding the meaning of ‘normal’ in regards to mental health.

During Elena’s talk she will give some examples of how our understanding of ‘normal’ has changed through time and will offer some mental health advice on how to deal with the “new normal” of the post-pandemic world. Dr Elena Syurina is an Assistant professor in the fields of Transdisciplinary Mental Health and Global Mental health at the Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx