#SpeakMindfully Campaign, Children's Health Council TMHI

Mission: raise awareness, reduce stigma, & educate our peers on how to speak mindfully to avoid language that undermines people’s valid experiences with mental illness

Take the pledge & learn more @ www.speakmindfully.org.

CHC's Teen Mental Health Committee is starting a teen campaign to raise awareness on the use of mental health terms in our daily language. Our goal is to educate our peers & community members to speak mindfully. We'd love to share your perspective on this topic, as well as your personal experience in a 2-3 minute video clip.  Our goal is to gather many perspectives on this topic - your responses are invaluable!

Submit your video clips to contact@teenztalk.org:

1. Briefly introduce yourself (i.e. name, age, hometown)
2. Share a personal story where language related to mental health has affected you.
3. How did you get through this experience? How did it shape you?
4. Please end the video by saying, "My name is (blank) and I speak mindfully."

Illustration by Ella Strickland de Souza

Related News Articles:

• "These labels give a false simplicity to human behavior. Something very complex boils down to (a generic, psychiatric label)". Read more in the following NBC News article: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2014-year-in-review/shes-ocd-hes-schizo-how-misused-health-lingo-can-harm-n275381​
• "The use of the word as a metaphor is tremendously damaging... It's part of the process of creating a stigma around mental illness. You would never hear it used in relation to a physical condition. You wouldn’t hear someone being described as a bit diabetic". The following BBC News article highlights the harm in misusing mental health terms: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15213824
• "The words have become part of our culture, and are used without understanding of their effect on others". Read more: http://shieldmedia.org/viewpoints/2016/2/15/speak-out-against-misuse-of-mental-health-terms​
• "As someone living with a mental illness, there are some things I hear that just hurt. Like when we use names of mental illnesses to describe things that have nothing to do with the illnesses themselves." Read more on The Mighty: https://themighty.com/2016/09/phrases-that-stigmatize-mental-illness-what-not-to-say/

Learn more about CHC's Teen Mental Health Committee