12 Creative Ways To Support Mental Health

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Trish Lockard is the author of Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism and a freelance editor and writer. Her business offers manuscript assessment and all levels of editing, from developmental down to proofreading. She volunteers for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI.)

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Fight Stigma

Stigma is the #1 reason people do not seek treatment for mental illness. Here are several things you can do to fight it.

Wear a green ribbon lapel pin to represent support for mental health. You can buy these from many online stores.

NAMI’s 2019 campaign WhyCare? is intended to emphasize how the “power of caring” can make a life-changing impact on the more than 40 million people in the US who face the day-to-day reality of having a mental health condition.

This campaign is daring. Wear your meds are buttons, each button showing an image of a commonly prescribed mental illness medication. Anyone who wears one of these buttons is signaling that they’re open to sharing their personal story of how the drug helped. Are you ready to use this creative way to talk about mental health?

[Like the creative Wear Your Meds campaign? Browse more examples of artistic activism.]

Your Heart on Art is a nonprofit agency that helps individuals and their loved ones struggling with grief, fear, pain, and anger learn to express themselves with creativity and color. In a safe, criticism-free environment, participants look within themselves and discover how to articulate emotions and events using paint and colors. Your Heart on Art is the brainchild of Eileen Wallach, an LCSW in Nashville, Tennessee, who has training in art therapy and who has been active in suicide education and prevention in Tennessee for many years.

Raise Mental Health Awareness

Consider taking one or more of these training programs to become a mental health advocate.

Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that teaches you how to help someone who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. The training enables you to identify, understand, and respond to signs of addictions and mental illnesses.

NAMI Smarts for Advocacy is a hands-on advocacy training program that helps people living with mental illness, friends and family transform their passion and lived experience into skillful grassroots advocacy.

The QPR Institute has trained more than 2.5 million people so far. Its simple three-step process of Question-Persuade-Refer has been proven to save lives and reduce suicidal behaviors. QPR training is available in hundreds of cities across the US and can be taken online.

Man Therapy uses a unique blend of humor and evidence to help men learn how to better talk about their mental health issues—and get the help they need. Humor is the key. Check out this episode about how men do yoga as proof.

While some say the Internet is only tearing the US apart, some are using digital communication to help provide crucial support and services to those who may be suffering from mental health issues. Big White Wall is a global digital platform and community, which supports its members to self-manage their care with the collaboration and guidance of clinicians, caregivers, and peers.

[Are you ready to mobilize, too? Read Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism.]

Encourage Funding

NAMI Walking for mental health funding despite a knee injury.

Funding is desperately needed for improvements to mental health care and treatment. Consider becoming involved in these ways.

Participate in NAMIWalks. Each NAMIWalks is a 5K (3.1 miles) event that promotes awareness about mental illness and raises funds for NAMI organizations across the country. With more than 100 NAMIWalks taking place each year, there is one near you. Join the movement and walk with us for mental health.

A service of Mental Health America, the MHA Advocacy Network is comprised of thousands of individuals nationwide who take an active role in protecting America’s mental health through legislative advocacy.

Have a Facebook fundraiser, a simple way to request donations to the non-profit organization of your choice. Folks have fundraisers for birthdays, graduations, and for any life event. Or for no particular reason whatsoever.

What Can You Do?

What can you do? Change must come from the ground up. Individuals. Families. Places of work. Houses of worship. In fact, individual efforts grow and spread to ever-higher tiers of power and authority. Grassroots activism breaks down obstacles and puts mental wellness and well-being for all within our reach.