A childhood overshadowed by war inspired Mandana Ahmadi to make a change

After witnessing the war in Iran, Mandana Ahmadi decided to create an app that would help others understand themselves and break free from anxiety

Imagine a world where the war becomes normality. A world where the sound of missiles goes unnoticed and airstrikes become routine. This was Mandana Ahmadi’s life in Iran until she was eight years old.

“That was all I knew,” she remembers. “Then, one day I woke up and I was terrified, because everybody was suddenly so happy that it almost scared me. I didn’t know what was happening until I was told the war was over.”

To say it was hard for an eight-year-old to understand what was going on, would be an understatement. “What struck me the most was how people’s state of mind can influence their lives,” Mandana explains. “They were extremely happy when, in reality, nothing had changed. We were living in the same space, in the same environment, in the same state, with the same people and the same amount of money. But suddenly, everybody was happy. It felt like an alternative universe and it was the very first time in my life when I realised that it doesn’t matter what’s around you. What matters is what you think you can do with your life.”

That is when Mandana became interested in how the brain works and how our mindset impacts our everyday life. After she experimented with pharmacology, she was introduced to computational neuroscience – a branch of science that involves studying brain function through computer modelling and mathematical analysis. “I realised that was what I was looking for,” she adds. “I was offered a scholarship in Denmark where I did three months of research and then, because I was unable to afford an actual university, I went to a community college in the US.

“But even though I loved doing research, I realised that we were not doing anything with that knowledge. I didn’t want my work to be buried in papers.

“So, there was this turning moment in my head when I was not happy with the status quo and the way people are sometimes left to their own devices,” Mandana adds. “If you’re not lucky to be born into a family, or social background, or even a country where there is some level of understanding, compassion and support, no matter who you are, you will break. If things keep bashing at you, and you’re not valued, at some point, you will break. Nobody is born broken. The environment breaks you.”

Along with her co-founder, she created Alena, an app that aims to bring science closer to people and help them overcome social anxiety. Alena uses simple games to assess the brain’s cognitive processes and based on the results, provides personalised behavioural therapy.

“Social anxiety is an important function in our life,” says Mandana. “We are social creatures and for that reason, it matters that we’re socially aware. But because it is so inherently natural to who we are, people just accept it as it is, and most of the time, it doesn’t occur to them that something might be wrong. We’ve got so used to saying that someone’s an introvert or shy or self-critical when those are very often signs of social anxiety.

“We see more awareness around conditions like depression, but what we don’t realise, is that depression can sometimes be a consequence of untreated social anxiety.

“Think of it like tanning,” she laughs. “If you get tanned people say: ‘Oh, it’s natural’. And unless it becomes cancer, it doesn’t raise awareness.”

Studies have shown that socialisation and hormonal differences make women twice as likely as men to experience depression. So how could Alena make a difference?

“I’m hoping that it will give people the support that they need,” the co-founder says. “I met a lot of wonderful people who supported me and believed in my potential, regardless of what I had been through. I want Alena to make people believe in themselves and to bring that level of hope and happiness in their lives by helping them understand themselves.”

If it passes the regulatory approvals, Mandana hopes that the app will be available by summer. “It’s deep science,” she adds. “For that reason, I hope it will have the power to really make a difference.”

To find out more about the app visit alena.com.