We can’t see a migraine or a pulled muscle, but when someone tells us they’re in pain from one of these things, we don’t question them. So why is it that when someone says they are in pain mentally, we push them aside? Just because the effects of mental illness cannot be physically seen, does not mean they don’t exist.
For many years, mental health has been a topic people avoid talking about. Slowly, people are becoming more comfortable having conversations surrounding it. Yet still, mental health and mental illnesses carry a stigma. The only way to eliminate the stigma is by treating mental illnesses without judgement toward those who experience them.
In their Anti-Stigma campaign, Healthy Minds Canada aims to draw attention to the brutality within the mental illness community. They do so by working to close the gap that exists between mental and physical illness and injury.
Why we love it:
You may not be aware of it, but the odds are that someone you know struggle with mental health. 1 in 5 adults in the United States experience mental health issues in a given year.
Mental health issues can be hard to address in media because they can’t be seen. Healthy Minds Canada uses this to their advantage. They startle you by showing a man getting hit by a car, and a large group of people leaving him on the street.
This is reality for people living with mental illnesses.
Healthy Minds Canada works to shatter the stigma by highlighting that a mental illness does not make someone less than anyone else, and deserves the same time, care and empathy as any physical injury or condition.
This is post #13 in our series, 17 wow-worthy social marketing campaigns.
