Malala Yousafzai opens up about mental health, dating and student life in new book

Malala Yousafzai speaks to CTV’s Your Morning about her second memoir on public misconceptions and the importance of therapy.

In a new book, education advocate Malala Yousafzai tries to shed her saintly image by opening up about student life, dating and her mental health struggles.

“I missed my childhood because of what was happening in the north of Pakistan when the Taliban took over: I became an activist at age 11, I was attacked at age 15 and I had to move to a different country,” Malala told CTV’s Your Morning from New York City. “And you know, I realized that the headlines I was seeing or the reception I was receiving made me into this saint-like figure who was supposed to live a life that (would) meet everybody’s expectations.”

Malala’s second book, “Finding My Way,” was released Tuesday and follows the 2013 release of her autobiography, “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban.”

That 2012 assassination attempt in Pakistan thrust Malala into the international spotlight. Her work as a female education activist soon earned her a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, making her the youngest ever winner of the prestigious award.

“Every girl deserves the chance to be in school,” Malala, now 28, said. “No girl should be left behind.”

When Malala enrolled at Oxford University in 2017, she says she saw it as an opportunity to do something new: live a normal student life. The book describes everything from climbing rooftops to being ghosted by her first crush to nearly failing exams.

She also describes smoking cannabis from a bong with her university friends, which triggered her first terrifying flashback of being shot in the head.

“In that moment I froze and I thought I was really living the Taliban attack experience,” Malala recalled. “I thought I had forgotten the incident. I thought I did not remember anything. But it felt in that moment that I had buried that memory somewhere deep down and it just got triggered.”

Malala says she has had many panic attacks since and is now seeking therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

“I do feel grateful that I’m in a much better place, but I think the most important lesson for me is to ask for help. I wish had received therapy early on,” she said. “Therapy and mental health are such a taboo topic in so many communities, and I’m sharing my story because I know there might be somebody out there who might be hesitant in considering it.”

The book also describes loving sports like golf and weightlifting.

“I am playing new sports, I’m watching women’s sports – that’s something that I’m really passionate about,” Malala said. “I think through sports, we can promote gender equity and create more opportunities for girls to have a career in this field and to have this equal right to play.”

As part of her book tour, Malala will appear at Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Nov. 7.