I’m hoping this post is a bit of a wake-up call.
The more time I spend in this space, the more I see campaigns that’ve been arnd for so long…campaigns that don’t move the needle, or worse, further confuse the masses. We then need to create campaigns to EXPLAIN what was actually meant by the initial campaigns!
I’m w/o a doubt a word nerd (even though we forgot a “to” in this graphic:/), but consider the following examples:
“Practice Self-Care”…but then bc the term self-care makes us think abt massages, being fed grapes while we recline, or even another more private thought abt “self” care ;), so we then need a campaign which explains: “Self-care is not self-ish”??
Right now we are telling ppl to “Remain Socially Distant”…but then bc of the isolation we think of when we hear that term, we need a campaign that says: “Remain social, just stay physically distant: 6-feet.”
We’re told “1 in 5 have mental illness” incessantly, but then bc of how many it leaves out & how many ppl then don’t proactively work on their MH, we need campaigns that say: “While 1 in 5 have mental illness, 5 in 5 have mental health.”
There are collective cheers & high fives when we consistently say: “Stop The Stigma,”…but at the same time, we want all of “you” who we believe are the source of perpetuating the stigma to feel like: “Everyone is going through something,” so join us!
We tell ppl: “It’s ok not to be ok,” but then in the same breath, say: “We must practice gratitude & think positive thoughts to rewire our brains.”
Some of these you may agree strongly w…some you may think I’m way off on. Either vantage point is ok…it’s opinion. But, it pains me to think so much time & effort is put into these – but then we need to explain what we actually meant.
We gotta question whether these campaigns are effective, or whether we should scrap them for clearer ones that better communicate what’s needed in this space. Literally lives are at stake.
Dedicating this post to Dr. Christina as we have a LIVE together tonight at 8pm EST/5pm PST that she titled “Changing the MH Conversation.” Hopefully some of these are convo starters.