We are in our 5th year of running our annual Shoutie Selfie campaign. It was started by Emily (co-founder of Happity) back in 2017 – when she ran MummyLinks. Since then it has gone from strength to strength. Now in 2021 – after the year of the pandemic – we all need to shout loud about mental health more than ever.
What is everyone shouting about?
Do you know five parents? One of them is struggling with a mental health issue. And the likelihood is that all of them struggle with loneliness as some point each week.
Do you know which of your parent friends are struggling? I bet you don’t. And not because you’re a bad friend, but because they are probably hiding it from you.
This is what #ShoutieSelfie is all about. It’s about showing parents that are struggling that you love and support them. That they are not alone, and that it’s ok to feel they way they are.
Why we need to shout loud about mental health
Luckily mental health issues have been getting more and more airtime. Celebs are talking out about it (watch this space for their #ShoutieSelfies!) and normal parents like us are too.
And it’s important, because no parent should feel alone in this.
That’s why I launched #Shoutie Selfie back in 2017 – to help parents out their struggling with their mental health to know they are not alone. I launched it because after struggling for 2 years with Post-Natal Depression and anxiety I started to share my experience and realised it wasn’t just me who was struggling – and knowing that helped me on my road to recovery.
The success of #Shoutie Selfie
I launched it in 2017 (with just 10 days planning and 2 months social media experience, but bags and bags of energy and passion!) and it was a great success. It got maternal mental health trending in just 30 minutes of launching, and a million impressions in the first week.
It’s been a huge success, with over 10 million impressions and the support of amazing charities, organisations and celebrities such as BBC5Live, HeadsTogether, Baby Buddy, NCT, PANDAS, World mental health day, Binky and Jane Felstead, Anna Williamson, Josh Paterson and many more!
#ShoutieSelfie 2021
This year with the pandemic we’re facing a mental health crisis.
The Health Foundation research found that:
More than two-thirds of adults in the UK (69%) report feeling somewhat or very worried about the effect COVID-19 is having on their life. The most common issues affecting wellbeing are worry about the future (63%), feeling stressed or anxious (56%) and feeling bored (49%).
Our own research at Happity in the past years has found that 93% of mums are lonely each week. And that struggling with loneliness makes you 50% more likely to struggle with your mental health.
And with perinatel mental health struggles, even before Covid-19, costing the UK £8.1bn for each one-year cohort of births, something needs to be done.
We need to be supporting each other in understand why looking after our mental health is so important, and how to do it.
How to do a #ShoutieSelfie
So, if you love someone who is struggling – or have/are struggling yourself – of even if don’t know of anyone struggling but want to let those around you know that you support and don’t judge them, please:
- Take a selfie of you shouting (feel free to write #ShoutieSelfie on it if you fancy!)
- If you’d like to us the official wording make sure you are signed up to our newsletter to hear updates before the big day!
- Post it using #ShoutieSelfie on Wednesday 5th May on your social media platforms, tagging 5 friends who understand if you can so they can take part too!
- Tag Happity (@happityapp on Twitter and FB, and @happity.co.uk on IG!) and we will share your post 🙂
What to write in your #ShoutieSelfie post
You can, of course, write your own words to explain why you are posting your #ShoutieSelfie. But, if you prefer, we have put together some words that you can use on each of the different social media channels that you can copy and paste.
Instagram:
This is my #ShoutieSelfie
It’s to help raise awareness of maternal mental health. And to let anyone suffering know they are NOT alone.
This year, more than ever, so many of us have struggled with our mental health. I’m posting my #ShoutieSelfie to let you know that if you are struggling I support you, I understand you, and I don’t judge you.
I shout loud to let you know it’s OK to not be OK. There’s no stigma. BUT there IS support and help – and things WILL get better.
I shout to raise awareness that we need more free and easily accessible support for those suffering with poor mental health.
I shout because nobody should feel alone.
Will you post your #ShoutieSelfie too?
Tag 5 friends who understand and @happity.co.uk for shares
Facebook:
This is my #ShoutieSelfie
It’s to help raise awareness of maternal mental health. And to let anyone suffering know they are NOT alone.
This year, more than ever, so many of us have struggled with our mental health. I’m posting my #ShoutieSelfie to let you know that if you are struggling I support you, I understand you, and I don’t judge you.
I shout loud to let you know it’s OK to not be OK. There’s no stigma. BUT there IS support and help – and things WILL get better.
I shout to raise awareness that we need more free and easily accessible support for those suffering with poor mental health.
I shout because nobody should feel alone.
Will you post your #ShoutieSelfie too?
Tag 5 friends who understand and @happityapp for shares
Twitter:
This is my #ShoutieSelfie.
If you are struggling with mental health I’m shouting that I support you, I don’t judge you, and you are not alone.
Will you post your #ShoutieSelfie too?
Tag 5 friends who understand & @happityapp for retweets
If you want to see more updates about #ShoutieSelfie and Happity please follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Let’s do something great!
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