Malala highlights role of counseling, friendship in building resilience

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, on Tuesday highlighted the importance of mental health and friendships in building resilience, drawing on her recovery from injuries sustained in a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012.

Speaking at the Rotary International Convention in Taipei during her first visit to Taiwan, Yousafzai was asked about the connection between developing resilience and serving others -- a central theme in her 2025 book, "Finding My Way."

Seeking help

Yousafzai said that while she was hospitalized following the attack by a Taliban gunman over her advocacy for girls' education, she and her parents declined the hospital's offer to arrange counseling.

"My parents and I said 'no' to that because of the cultural stigma that we had around this topic growing up in Pakistan," Yousafzai said.

However, she said she began experiencing flashbacks to the assassination attempt after an incident during her university years and eventually sought therapy at the encouragement of a friend.

"Things started changing for me," she said.

Yousafzai said she had long believed she did not need help because people had described her as "brave" and "courageous" for speaking out in support of girls' education.

"But in that moment when I felt so vulnerable and broken, and I was going through anxiety, I realized that asking for help is actually really important for our well-being," she noted.

"Through therapy, I realized that actually true bravery and courage is when you keep fighting for what you believe in, even when you are scared, even when you go through these hardships."

The value of friendship

Yousafzai also stressed the importance of friendship, recalling her time in Birmingham, United Kingdom, after her relocation from Pakistan following the attack.

She said that because of language barriers and cultural differences, she made only one friend during her high school years in the U.K.

"That's because she fell out with her best friend," Yousafzai said, drawing laughter from the audience.

The experience motivated her to try to "make as many friends as possible" while attending the University of Oxford.

"When you have that incredible circle of friends around you, it just helps you grow as a person," she said, adding that she was "lucky" to have met "incredible" friends at university.

Power in collective action

Reflecting on nearly two decades of advocacy for girls' education, Yousafzai said "every act matters," from making donations to campaigning for change.

However, she urged the audience to "join hands" through organizations such as Rotary International and the Malala Fund -- which she co-founded with her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, in 2013 -- to advance causes promoting equity.

"I think there's so much that each and every one of us can do. Sometimes we forget about the power that we have as a collective voice," she said.

"I do believe in the power of individual acts, but then when we come together and when we do it collectively, it amplifies, it multiplies."

Youngest Nobel laureate

On Oct. 9, 2012, when Yousafzai was 15, armed militants stopped her school bus and shot her in the head after identifying her by name. The attack, carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, shocked the world.

Yousafzai survived after receiving emergency treatment in Pakistan and subsequent medical care in the U.K. She and her family later settled in Birmingham.

In 2014, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Indian child-rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. At age 17, she became the youngest person ever to receive a Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Committee recognized the pair "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education."