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We’re all hangin’ on by a thread here: The pandemic has had a “significant impact on mental health,” according to the US Department of Labor, which noted that 83% of workers reported suffering from work-related stress.
While some companies have chosen to adopt a four-day workweek, broadened holiday schedules, or offered inflation-based bonuses to help ease employees’ mental burdens, it’s clear we still have a ways to go in combating the mental health crisis.
For Mental Health Awareness Month this year, brands, agencies, and organizations have chosen to address the issue in both their policies and campaigns—some deeper than others.
Policy is personal: According to Ad Age, agencies like RPA are offering employees mental health support via office hours with an HR professional, while VMLY&R partnered with Bright Horizons to provide help with caring for children, elders, and pets.
Talk it out: Other companies have opted this month to create campaigns around mental health, many of them focused on prevention and awareness. Examples include:
- TikTok created a Mental Health Media Education Fund to donate more than $2 million in ad credits to organizations like the Alliance for Eating Disorders and Made of Millions.
- Saks is selling “positive affirmation decals,” creating window displays, and partnering with psychologist Mariel Buqué to create custom content for Saks’s digital platforms.
- L.L.Bean is “off the grid” for the month, having wiped its Instagram account as part of an effort to encourage people to get outside.
- The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention created a campaign called “Talk Away the Dark” around the importance of direct conversation in preventing suicide and supporting those experiencing suicide loss.
- LifeStance Health, a mental healthcare provider, brought back its “No Face” campaign to share peoples’ experiences with anxiety.
- Talkspace partnered with Michael Phelps to highlight the importance of therapy in its “Celebrate Every Step” campaign.
- Skin Proud, a Gen Z skincare brand, is encouraging people to pay it forward through acts of kindness and to share their good deeds on TikTok, as well as donate to a fundraiser.
- Various sports teams have also drawn attention to Mental Health Awareness Month online and in their games.
While improving labor conditions would likely have a bigger impact on mental health than campaigns and initiatives, it’s clear the conversation around mental health is growing.