Advocacy through Social Media

Social media is a tool that has great potential.  Social media has the potential to connect people from all over the world to create communities of like-minded people.  One of the most positive ways that social media has impacted our everyday life is through advocacy.  Advocacy is defined by Merriam Webster as “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal.”  Social media can be used as an advocacy tool, and recently has been used to advocate for mental health.  Social media accounts such as mentalhealthamerica, namicommunicate, and project1in4 are bringing mental health awareness to a larger audience through their Instagram accounts.  Mental health advocacy through social media can be done by providing supportive resources, giving contact information for hotlines and mental health professionals, or even something as simple as offering daily words of encouragement.  Various social media accounts are devoted to breaking the stigma that exists around mental health.  Starting a dialogue about mental health is the first step to both breaking the stigma and making mental health a priority for everyone.

Here are examples of some Instagram accounts working towards improving mental health:

• https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealthamerica  @mentalhealthamerica
• https://www.instagram.com/namicommunicate  @namicommunicate
• https://www.instagram.com/project1in4  @project1in4
• https://www.instagram.com/active_minds  @active_minds

Other accounts we like are @brenebrown, @wearyourlabel and @makedaisychains

What are other mental health advocacy groups (or individuals) that you follow on social media?  We would love to make a list of them in the comments section below!