(Illustration by iStock/Kubkoo)
Mental health has become a central topic of discussion as reports of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions continue to increase in the United States and globally. Government, media, corporations, academic institutions, and nonprofits have all made large, though insufficient, commitments to address alarming rates of mental health distress and deaths of despair like drug overdoses and suicides. While mental health is often discussed in the context of clinical mental health services, there is growing agreement that simply expanding access to traditional clinical mental health services, like therapy and psychiatry, will not meet the full needs of the moment. This is due to a number of factors including a growing evidence-base that community members can be just as effective as clinicians at providing some forms of mental health support and the inseparability of mental health from other intersections of oppression and injustice.
Meanwhile, the field of social change and innovation is engaged with the greatest challenges of our time—our collective pain. Together with the communities we serve, those of us who work in social change witness the daily realities of poverty, injustice, violence, marginalization, and climate destruction. Many of us find ourselves on the front lines of crisis response, frequently torn between priorities of immediate relief and long-term reform. Existing narratives such as martyrdom, hero-preneurship, and resource scarcity cloud our efforts to work with great courage without excluding and exploiting ourselves. It is no wonder that burnout narratives prevail and countless social impact leaders—despite their immense talent and a sense of purpose—eventually walk away from the mission for good.
If mental health ultimately allows us to navigate life’s difficulties toward a sense of growth and contribution, then it is critical to social change, which exists at the intersection of our collective pain and our collective freedom. And if large swaths of the population are to experience the liberating possibilities of mental health and healing, then it cannot be left in the domain of the formal mental health system alone. To achieve lasting impact, and to experience much-needed collective healing, mental health must be integrated in our social change worlds.
This is not only necessary, but possible. Through our shared community of social innovators in the Catalyst 2030 Mental Health Collaboration, and at our own organizations, Brio and Mental Health America, we have witnessed the marvelous possibilities and outcomes of embedding mental health into social change work. As a collective of social entrepreneurs and practitioners, the Mental Health Collaboration seeks to accelerate innovation in global mental health as a means to more effectively and inclusively achieve important social and environmental impact.
Mental Health as a Resource for Change
The critical role that mental health plays in achieving meaningful social change begins with the core of what mental health really is. While poor mental health can hinder a person or a community’s ability to take full advantage of the possibilities before them, positive mental health can empower individuals and communities to lead and effect their own vision of flourishing. As a vitalizing internal resource, mental health can support the longevity of any social change that requires sustained engagement and effort by those involved.
Embedding mental health into our social change worlds also helps us create workplace cultures that do not do harm on the pathway to doing good. While we work to change communities and structures, we are often fighting the resulting beliefs and barriers of those norms and systems within ourselves and our efforts. Whether it is witnessing trauma and grief, glorifying overwork, failing to create opportunities for authentic connection, or ignoring our own well-being, we may unintentionally recreate or fail to address struggles in the ways we interact with one another—making it less likely that we and our efforts will be sustainable.
The good news is there are many pathways to integrating mental health as a critical ingredient in lasting social impact. Over the course of this series, transformative changemakers in the field will join us to share in-depth case studies of how leaders and innovators both within and outside the United States are leveraging mental health to advance social change. These diverse perspectives offer wisdom to enrich our conversations around the power of mental health to increase impact across four critical areas of social change: climate, peacebuilding, gender, and the workplace.
How to Cultivate Mental Health in Your Social Change World
To advance a future where people and the planet flourish, we need more leaders and teams to integrate mental health and social change. While this process takes time, we believe that there is power in simply taking a step forward. Here are four key practices, which we will explore in greater depth throughout this series.
1. Reimagine yourself as a member of the mental health ecosystem and build a community of mutual support.
Significant shifts are possible when we recognize that mental health and healing is the domain of all of us—not just mental health professionals. Having a basic understanding of how poor mental health affects our communities can inform the posture and pace at which we work, how we define success, and the importance of collective participation in the process of healing. Start simply by learning about the effects of trauma and how best to accompany others; then become familiar with local resources and supports where available.
In an upcoming article about the power of mental health to promote peacebuilding, Celina De Sola of Glasswing International will share critical mindset shifts for working with vulnerable populations, important ways to reflect on the impact of mental health and trauma on our work, and how to become informed supporters of mental health in the communities we serve.
2. Honor the emotional and mental impact of the difficult realities we face.
Emotional responses, whether sadness, frustration, or anger, are valid and appropriate responses to experiencing and confronting injustice in social change work. While these feelings are often what inspire us toward action, it is also important to create spaces where we can process and validate these emotions as they arise. Offering open dialogues, spaces for art, mental health education, or support groups can help us honor our experiences instead of ignoring the emotional and mental impact that can compound and create burnout over time.
In an upcoming article about the intersections of the mental health and climate movements, mental health experts Lian Zeitz and John Jamir Benzon Aruta will join us to discuss how to sit with large-scale suffering, address moral crises, and create intergenerational spaces for long-term change and healing.
3. Provide opportunities for connection and support rooted in shared experiences.
Receiving support from people we identify with can be healing and show us that we are not alone. These relationships and interactions offer us the opportunity to be inspired and supported by individuals who we feel better understand us and our experiences. In addition to broader mental health resources, we can prioritize and offer spaces and initiatives that allow individuals to connect with one another around shared experiences.
In an article focusing on mental health and gender, Dr. Rukudzo Mwamuka will help us explore how leaders, particularly those from communities historically excluded from mental health services and initiatives, can advance well-being by disclosing their experiences with mental health and adapting resources to reflect the needs of their communities.
4. Foster a shared language around mental and emotional experiences to build a culture of empathy.
Empathetic relationships at work are critical to supporting mental health, and they begin with self- and other-awareness. While many of us are well-versed in the vocabulary of our own industry, it is likely that we can improve our vocabulary around our mental and emotional experiences. We can start by simply acknowledging and naming the wide range of inner realities felt by colleagues and team members in the context of the work itself. Sometimes this is as simple as learning to use words that describe our thoughts, emotions, and sensations as part of our present moment experience; it can also mean developing better skills to know what to listen for if a colleague is struggling.
In our final article, Bearapy founder Enoch Li will write about how to defuse stigma, align mental health with values, and gradually shift workplace culture toward supportiveness and well-being.
The Cost—and Promise—of Mental Health in Social Change
Without a significant increase in mental health awareness, promotion, and support, our social change world will fail to fully bring about the wide range of possibilities we urgently need. And without a meaningful integration of mental health across programs and sectors, we resign ourselves to a system insufficient to provide for us all.
Integrating mental health into our social change worlds may sound complex, but there are many possible pathways forward. This series features stories and lessons from social innovators who have demonstrated that mental health is well worth the investment to achieve the impact we want to see in the world. For funders and supporters of social change, we hope you will consider how the inclusion of mental health can amplify the staying power of the work you currently support. And for those with us in the trenches of social change, we hope these recommendations do not become just one more thing on your long to-do list but rather approachable steps toward more healing and freedom in the context of your important social mission.
Support SSIR’s coverage of cross-sector solutions to global challenges.
Help us further the reach of innovative ideas. Donate today.
Read more stories by Daisy Rosales & Kelly Davis.