Get ready for Mental Health Action Day on Thursday, May 16, 2024. ​

Together as partners, we will work at different levels, across geographies and demographics to empower people to take action for their own mental health while sharing tools to help them support loved ones through everyday mental health challenges. Mental Health Action Day lifts the conversation from awareness to action and encourages partners to share evidence-based tools that can help people take their first steps.

Check back for additional resources soon!

Brand GuideMessaging GuidanceGet the GIFs

Brand Guide, Logo, Highlight Video & Graphics

Mental Health Action Day is open source.

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If you are making your own graphics, feel free to use these resources to make sure they are consistent with other materials from the Partner Network.

Brand Guide, Logo & Highlight Reel
GIF Library
Press Release Template

Partner Brief

Download the Mental Health Action Day Partner Brief to read and share our 2024 call to action: Dedicate One Hour to Connection.

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Partner Brief

Employer Resources

Take the opportunity to turn awareness into action inside your organization!

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Download these Employer Resources built in partnership with the Health Action Alliance.

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Health Action Alliance
Employer Guide

Messaging Guidance

Use the messaging guidance and GIFs below on your digital and social media channels to continue to shift your community to take action and support each other. Don't forget to use and promote the hashtag #MentalHealthAction.

Mental health can be a tough topic to talk about. Here are some basic guidelines to make sure you encourage and empower your audience to take action.

Do's
Don'ts
Storytelling Tips
  • Encourage and empower your community to take #MentalHealthAction in whatever way feels right for them. That can mean taking time to connect with themselves, connecting with a friend or family member, practicing yoga, meditation or other self-calming activities, finding a support group or therapist. Or it can mean taking an action to support systemic change that improves mental health access and equity.  There are many ways to encourage people to take mental health action and improve overall well-being.
  • Highlight free and easily accessible resources. Remember that therapy, telehealth options and support groups are not easily accessible for everyone. Highlight actions that are free and open to all including setting aside time for self-calming activities, taking an action to expand equity and access to mental health services, or direct them to a Mental Health Action Network partner that provides free resources.
  • Encourage people to share their stories. End the stigma and support the demystification of mental health action-taking by encouraging your audience to share their experience and what works for them through social media, text messages, and other communications that reach their community.
  • Find local or community-specific and culturally competent partners to amplify. Partner with mental health organizations that can support your community with the most targeted and appropriate resources.
  • Emphasize that mental health is a part of overall health. Remind people that, just as there are things they do to take care of their physical health, there are things they can do to take care of their mental health.
  • Encourage your community to create space to listen. Use language that promotes meeting people where they are and that allows them to share their personal experience without interruption or judgement.
  • Ask your audience to invite others to join them in taking action. Encourage them to share out Mental Health Action Network partner resources our resource hub: Mental Health Is Health.
  • Use inclusive language that promotes the importance of mental health and encourages a shared understanding of mental health.
  • Don’t focus only on specific mental health conditions. Focus instead on the full spectrum of mental health journeys and that everyone has mental health that they need to take care of.
  • Don’t ask people to do anything that is uncomfortable for them. Don’t ask your audience to share anything with friends, family, co-workers or online that they’re not comfortable sharing.
  • Don’t reinforce or overstate stigma. Watch out for narratives that overemphasize stigma, judgment, or mistreatment toward people with mental health challenges, which can prevent viewers from speaking up if they are struggling.
  • Don’t share potentially harmful details. Avoid unintentionally providing information or reinforcing misconceptions that could make someone engage in similar behaviors.
  • Don’t define people by their conditions and avoid words like “suffering” or “victim.” Instead emphasize people are “living with” conditions like depression and anxiety. The person may not be "suffering" all the time from a mental health condition.
  • Don’t lean into stereotypes. Be mindful of stereotypes when depicting mental health storylines and aim for authenticity over tropes.
  • Portray a range of experiences. Expand depictions of mental health to reflect the full continuum of experiences — from thriving to coping to struggling.
  • Diversify representation. Tell stories of diverse communities to help action-takers from all backgrounds feel seen and take action.
  • Spotlight effective support from friends and family members. Elevate stories of friends and family who are supportive — or eventually become supportive — to make taking action less scary.
  • Depict effective, realistic action-taking. Show realistic portrayals of effective therapeutic treatments to help lessen fear and misconceptions and make viewers more likely to seek help.
  • Highlight the power of coping skills and self-care. Minimize depictions of self-care that make it seem like an indulgence or luxury only for those who can afford it.
  • Represent the complex causes of mental health challenges. Portray the range of factors that contribute to mental health challenges to better equip viewers to support themselves and the people they care about.

Get the GIFs

Believe Survivors, be there for survivors
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Reminder: Take an hour for your mental health
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Breathe in, breathe out
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Take an hour for self care
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Take an hour to disconnect and decompress
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Me time
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How are you really?
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Taking action for me
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Shift mental health culture from awareness to action
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Dedicate one hour for your loved ones, your community, yourself
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Support is Everywhere Spanish text
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No es de cobardes pedir ayuda
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Thank you for helping me Spanish text
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Celebrate the possible Spanish text
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Be a champion of prevention Spanish text
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A bright future is possible Spanish text
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There is no problem for help Spanish text
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Thank you therapists Spanish text
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Thank you counselors Spanish text
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Everyone has a role in prevention Spanish text
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I have you Spanish text
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Normalize therapy Spanish text
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Lean on your friends Spanish text
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Lean on me heart
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It's not weak to ask for help
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Support is all around
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Normalize Therapy
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Be a prevention advocate
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I got you
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Lean on friends
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Thanks for supporting me
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It's Okay to Ask for Help
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Just Say No
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A bright future is possible
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Celebrate What's Possible
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Self Love Club
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Everyone plays a role in prevention
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You are not alone
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The future is bright
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Thank you counselors heart
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It's ok not to be ok
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A celebration of possibility
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It's Okay to ask for help
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Thank you Therapists
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Self-care is self love
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I will help you through
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You are not alone orange ribbon
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Self Love Club thumbs up
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You are not alone
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Breathe in, breathe out live-action MTV MHAD 2022
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Inhale exhale turntable
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It's OK to say NO MTV MHAD 2022
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Your community can help MTV MHAD 2022
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Pizza Breathe in Breathe out MTV MHAD 2022
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Take Time to Breathe WOC MTV MHAD 2022
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Volunteer MTV MHAD 2022
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Take S'more Time to Breathe MTV MHAD 2022
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Inhale, Exhale MTV MHAD 2022
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Ask Friends for Help MTV MHAD 2022
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Permission Slip MTV MHAD 2022
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Spongebob friends are stronger together MTV MHAD 2022
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Lean on your friends Spongebob MTV MHAD 2022
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It's Okay Not to Be Okay Spongebob
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Disconnect & decompress MTV MHAD 2022
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I am not my diagnosis pin MTV MHAD 2022
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Take a Moment, MTV MHAD 2022
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Mental Illness Recovery is Possible MTV MHAD 2022
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Pause, breathe in, breathe out MTV
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Be mindful with your money MTV MHAD 2022
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Connect with friends MTV MHAD 2022
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Nurture your mind when you nourish your body; blender with smiling face
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You Are Not Alone
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Take a moment for yourself MTV MHAD 2022
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Happiness is Balance MTV MHAD 2022
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"Take a Beat", dancing with headphones MTV MHAD 2022
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"Recharging my battery", brainpower charging MTV MHAD 2022
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You are not alone MTV MHAD 2022
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Self care isn't selfish - person giving themselves a hug.
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Hello, I am not my illness sticker
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Join a club! Learn new skills, make new friends!
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Pause, Breathe In, Breathe Out turtle
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Remove Toxic Friendships
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Therapy is medicine MTV MHAD 2022
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Nature is therapeutic
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Pause! Breathe in, Breathe out. MTV MHAD 2022
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"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare" - Audre Lorde quote
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Two women holding signs, "Women lifting up women is a magical thing".
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"If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be" - Maya Angelou (quote)
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Women dancing together with quote "Hard times require furious dancing" from Alice Walker.
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Woman looking in the mirror with silhouette reading "The woman who inspires me is the woman I am becoming".
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Your Eco-Anxiety is Valid, Climate Change is Real
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Dealing with Climate Anxiety? Take Time Out From Climate News
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Mtv Health
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Say No Mtv
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Mtv Love
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Mtv
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Mtv Love
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Mtv Health
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Mtv Health
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Mtv School
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Learn More

Do you want more information about who is leading this effort? Go to MentalHealthActionDay.org to learn more. If you are not yet a member of the Mental Health Action Network, become a partner here.

#MentalHealthAction

Artist credits: Icons CC BY-SA | talent by MRFA / government by Made x Made / university by iconcheese / employer by Jasfart / collaborate by Yanick Brezet / PDF by Alfredo / newspaper by Becris / bullet list by Rflor / event by Adiyogi / fundraising by Vectors Market from the Noun Project

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