Letters for Mental Health

Letters to Strangers is a youth-led, youth-based organization that aims to help break down the stigma regarding youth mental health and make treatment and information about it that much more accessible.

There are many components to the organization. A central one is helping youths open up chapters in their area where they work with the main team and receive resources and mentoring to make mental health help and services more available to their community. They also work with health professionals and engage with advocacy events to make sure actual mental health reform is possible.

The core of the organization however, as suggested by the name, is through letter writing. Those chapters that we mentioned write anonymous letters where members open up about their struggles and offer support to other members of other chapters. These physical letters can go a long way, and even if they’re anonymous, can feel personal and that a friend is out there who understands what you’re going through. Those who don’t have a chapter but still want to write letters can still do so, but they have to pass an approval process first.

If you’re a fan of writing letters or want to spread more mental health awareness in your community, this may be a great resource for you. The site even has an exchange platform specifically for COVID-19 related letters too!

Do you like writing letters? Are there any youth-based mental health organizations in your community?