Meet Dr Monica Krishnan | Author, Pharmacist and Mental Health Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr Monica Krishnan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr Monica, what makes you happy? Why?
I think the word happiness makes people feel like they need to feel happy every single moment of every single second. Happiness I have learned through spiritual teachings is to find internal peace and happiness. Happiness can not only come from outside sources: people, places, things. My happiness comes from learning to love myself and to love all versions of myself. Happiness to me is being of service in the work that I do as a pharmacist and my work as a Mental Health Advocate.
Happiness is spending time with people who feel like sunshine . Happiness for me can be a simple walk in nature, sipping on a nice cup of chai, it can be spending time with my friends and family.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been working as a Clinical Pharmacist for 25 years now. In 2018 I began focusing on my work as a Mental Health and Grief Advocate. In 2020 i worked as a medical writer for a platform called psycompro and published several articles on Mental Health and a Pharmacist perspective . In October 2024 i published my first book, a Children’s book called Finding Pockets of Sunshine . A story of a little girl who suffers a loss and how she navigates her grief journey to find hope and sunshine in her life.
I want the world to know that you are enough, you are not alone in your struggles . I faced many struggles during my own journey of grief and loss and mental health , but through time I realized that asking for help was a sign of bravery .
I created my book as a tool to help families , children and adults to help them navigate MH and Grief.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting I would take her to a few of my favorite spots. I would take her to San Diego and take her to eat at the Gaslamp district, they have excellent restaurants. I would then Bring her to the heart of Hollywood and take her to a show at the Pantages theater and then after walk along the Hollywood walk of stars. I would then drive her up to Northern California and show her San Francisco and take her to the famous Alcatraz prison musuem. We would end the trip with dinner at Fishermans warf

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I recently published my first book and I am so thankful for the support of my incredible family, friends whom I get to call soul sisters, my spiritual teacher Priya Jain for helping me through my own personal healing journey so I could turn my pain into purpose and create the character ANISHA in my first book, Finding Pockets of Sunshine.

Instagram: @drmonicapharmd

Other: Dr Monica’s Book: Finding Pockets of Sunshine is available on AMAZON

Image Credits
Photo credit : Andrew Mori