Do mental health "anti-stigma" campaigns work? #IAMWHOLE

Abstract

To mark World Mental Health day 2016, the NHS, working in partnership with YMCA, has launched a new campaign #IAMWHOLE . This is designed to challenge stigma about mental health and specifically targets young people. It is the first time that the NHS has produced a music video and the campaign is fronted by young UK musical artist Jordan Stephens of established UK hip-hop act, Rizzle Kicks. He has talked openly about using music as a way of coping with mental health issues and the campaign uses social media explicitly to connect with younger audiences through the hashtag #IAMWHOLE. This references the original song which has been written especially for this purpose by Stephens: I wrote Whole to express how I was feeling at the bottom of a situation. When the NHS suggested it could be used to give other people a way of feeling less alone, man that felt really good. Spirit Media who produced the campaign found that Jordan Stephens was a perfect ‘fit’ in terms of reaching young people aged 11-24 years. But is this approach to social stigma as innovative as NHS ‘experts’ claim or is this simply another campaign that reworks old ideas about stigma through new digital means? There is considerable evidence that young people do have mental health concerns. Indeed, research compiled by YMCA for this campaign identified that of those young people who say they experience stigma around their mental health concerns more than a third (37% ) say it happens at least once a week and 54% say it originates from their own friends.