Mental health PSA perfectly captures the harm of 'good vibes' thinking

Sometimes it's hard to know how to talk about mental health, or whether it's safe to share feelings of distress with friends and family.

A new public service announcement depicts this reality vividly. In the minute-long spot, teens and young adults hear from loved ones that they shouldn't be struggling. When scrolling through social media, they are bombarded with messages that sound a lot like toxic positivity. Slogans like "harden up," "good vibes only," and "manifest your happiness" leave no room for sadness, anxiety, and depression.

The PSA specifically features teens and young adults of color, who were among those at higher risk for mental health challenges during the pandemic. That heightened risk could reflect the toll of experiences like discrimination and racism, exposure to community violence, and living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods.

In the video, well-intentioned loved ones reinforce some of the misconceptions that youth often hear when discussing mental health. A father tells his daughter she shouldn't be sad with a roof over her head. One friend tells another that he needs to stop the "depression stuff." A father declares to his son that "men don't cry."

The ad is the latest effort from the Seize the Awkward campaign to help young people feel less alone, and to remind people that a caring friend can help someone who's suffering get through tough periods.

Seize the Awkward launched in 2018 as an initiative of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The Jed Foundation, in collaboration with the Ad Council. The campaign encourages young people to be there for each other, even if it might feel temporarily awkward. That's why the campaign's website includes tips about how to start a conversation about mental health.

Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told Mashable that the PSA is one way of letting young people know that adults care and that "we're listening to you." She said that concerning trends related to mental health for youth of color, including increased psychological distress and suicidal thinking, prompted the campaign to focus on that population, but that themes of the PSA are universal.

She also noted that an empathetic friend might need their own support from a loved one.

"We can be struggling at times and we can be helping others at times," she said. "And sometimes it's even [doing both] at the same time."

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email [email protected]. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat at crisischat.org. Here is a list of international resources.