The year 2020 was a remarkably difficult and stressful year. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unexpected changes, testing us in all spheres of our lives as we were forced out of our norms and comfort zones. Many people became ill or lost loved ones as a result of the virus. Families, friends and couples were forced to restructure their lives and relationships as a result. People had to drastically alter their professional lives due to the effect of the financial crisis, and the way students studied and worked towards educational success had to be re-thought and re-designed.
The COVID-19 outbreak has indeed caused many people to become more anxious, but it has also caused and amplified much more serious mental health issues, and psychologists are increasingly concerned that these problems may linger well beyond 2021. Social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok may not replace in-person counselling, but they provide the global community with tools for self-help, accessibility to free support and help create awareness for individuals seeking growth and development. So, in an era where we spend more time on smartphones and social media than not, why not fill your feed with uplifting content about mental health?
Listed below are five Instagram accounts posting about mental health that you should check out or follow when you are feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or depressed:
Founder of DLC Anxiety, Dean Stott struggled with anxiety and a panic disorder following the death of his late father. Dean explains that his mind wandered back to the times he wasn’t there for his father, including the day his father passed away. In due course, he learned how to cope and overcome his mental health issues. After that, he aimed to establish a worldwide virtual community wherein people from all across the globe could support each other in their journeys to mental well-being and recovery, sharing what tips and techniques worked for them.
In an interview with Vogue Singapore, Dean shared that, “mental health is just as important as physical health” adding that “we wouldn’t put off going to the doctors and seeking help if we had broken our leg. The same goes for mental health. We need to carry on raising awareness and making people aware it’s important to seek out help if they feel their mental health is declining.”
Founded by two brothers Danny and Mathew Baker, this Instagram account focuses on providing information about depression and mental illness in the form of easy-to-read graphics. They remind their followers that every individual experiences mental health issues to varying degrees. Whether they experience mild sadness or hopelessness, have extreme thoughts about harming themselves, or have delusional or hallucinatory episodes, we should all be able to recognize the signs of mental health issues and feel comfortable seeking the support we deserve.
With their Instagram posts, they create a welcoming and transparent environment that fosters an open and honest dialogue about mental health issues and depression awareness among their followers.
The page’s founder, Tamryn Burgess, posts easy-to-read, visual graphic guides that support users in their experiences with panic, anxiety and depression, while also sharing her struggles about mental health.
People who look at your struggles from a different standpoint may encourage you to seek counselling or may offer you advice. But for those dealing with such issues, it’s easy to become entangled in the emotions we can’t see. Through her posts, Tamryn helps users become aware of the mental, emotional and physical signs and symptoms that are linked to the various kinds of panic and anxiety disorders. She works towards making her followers feel understood and safe, offering them strategies on how not to become overwhelmed by your mental health.
Diego Perez (Yung Pueblo) grew up in poverty after his family immigrated from Ecuador to Boston, Massachusetts. His college years were filled with heavy drugs, misery and despair, which eventually led to his first Vipassana meditation retreat. He learned to accept and embrace change in his life, to be present in the moment and to find meaning and peace in both the ups and downs of life. Now, under the name of “Yung Pueblo”, he uses a plethora of social media platforms to help others on their own journeys towards a free life. He has built an impressive following on Instagram, where, through his simple yet poignant poetic words, imparts information about mental health and the importance of treating yourself with kindness. By following him, you’ll see images that are clean, simple and refreshing.
Whitney Goodman, a self-defined “radically honest psychotherapist”, handles the “Sit With Whit” account. This psychotherapist posts expert mental health and relationship advice and normalizes feelings, anxieties and issues that face her followers in order to help them heal past wounds and create the life they’ve always wanted.
The account features a wide range of content formats, including lists, comparisons and galleries with multiple graphics, almost all paired with two-to-three paragraph captions that read like a mini-blog. Whitney, as a professional and an expert in mental health, goes out of her way to make her knowledge and insights accessible, not only to those who are aware of their mental health issues, but to those who may not realize that they have dealt with or are dealing with issues that negatively affect their perspectives on life or mental health. One of Whitney’s Instagram posts charting out the difference between toxic positivity and validation went viral last year and is worth checking out.
Checking out, browsing, or following these Instagram accounts will surely lead you to discover other mental health-related accounts that you might find inspiring or useful as well!