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Heart On My Sleeve is an early intervention mental health initiative revolutionising our understanding & application of authentic connection in a digital world. It is the fastest growing online mental health Movement in Australia, with growing international presence. It’s a platform for people to inspire, learn, connect, and reinspire. Heart On My Sleeve is quickly becoming synonymous with positive mental wellbeing in Australian youth culture.
Our purpose is to eradicate self-stigma from mental health by reducing reported feelings of self-judgement, and double the help seeking rate to 60% by 2021.
This equates to approximately 1.5 million conversations in Australia alone.
Our vision is a world where everyone feels comfortable talking about the way they feel.
Our mission is to inspire a global conversation around mental health
It started on May 30th 2017 after one man shared his all-to-familiar, yet commonly untold story of his battles with mental health, that quickly went viral on social media.The main call-to-action was for people to draw a heart on their arm (sleeve),and upload a selfie to social media with a caption sharing their experience with mental health under the hashtag #heartonmysleeve.
He illustrated the immense conflict he felt between living the “perfect” outside life, whilst suffering immensely beneath the surface. His vision was to give people a voice, and unify the community through a sense of connection. He wanted to harness the scale & safety of technology, whilst democratising self-expression, in an environment where authenticity is valued over perfection or being “fixed”.
Suffering comes in two parts. The first layer is our condition. Several aspects of our condition (genetics, environmental upbringing etc) are sometimes out of our control. However, the second layer, our perceptions of what we “should” or “shouldn’t” be. It’s been conditioned into us. It’s this part that often causes us the most pain. The shame about the depression, the guilt about the anger, the anxiety about the anxiety. The weight of unnecessary judgement.
So, how do we drop that second layer in order to access the space we need to effectively cope with our experience?
People don’t speak up because they “can’t” accept who they are or what they are going through…. Unless, someone who they can relate to is going through the same. We have built an innovative action-based platform that cultivates social inclusion and inspires people of lived experience to lead the conversation and make meaning from their pain and be in service to others.
We believe it’s time to flip the conversation in mental health from thinking or being told “it’s ok to talk”, to actually believing it, owning our story, and sharing it when it may be helpful to do so. Our programs move beyond awareness raising. We provide the tools & channels for people to express themselves safely, authentically & with impact.
Our approach is focussed on evidence-based methods that will materially impact the underlying stigma preventing people from seeking help – SELF stigma. Right now - there isn't a place for them to learn, share and healing - at scale and safely - quite like Heart On My Sleeve can offer. We have all the right ingredients to enable a culture that reduces stigma through education AND action in a way that is highly authentic and relatable. We aren't about a traditional stigma approach of getting “them to think differently about us", we are about "getting me to think differently about me, because i feel connected to us, and the rest will follow”
We want to turn what is currently a successful social campaign, into a program/service provider that helps people "feel better & stay well". Heart On My Sleeve has already proven to be incredibly effective in encouraging help seeking and increasing a sense of community and connection to fellow suffers - thus alleviating distress symptoms. However, we see room to improve and a duty to provide more to our followers.
In the next 12 months, Heart On My Sleeve will be providing a range of services and programs designed to achieve our objectives:
SOCIAL STORYTELLING - Eliminate the negative stigma of mental health by creating innovative storytelling platforms & campaigns that amplify and instigate R.E.A.L. conversations and connections
PRACTICAL EDUCATION - Provide world-class preventative & support resources that educate & train on safe & effective help seeking & support strategies
MODERN INTERVENTION - Improve access and efficiency of primary health interventions, access to and connection with professional services through the use of technology