Mental Health Is Not a Brand, It’s a Battle Some Are Still Fighting Silently.

You’ve seen the posts.

The hashtags.
The “check in on your mates” captions.
The curated vulnerability followed by perfectly filtered smiles.

Mental health has finally entered the mainstream conversation, and while that’s progress, we can’t ignore the flip side:

It’s also becoming a brand.
A talking point.
A trend.

But for many…
It’s not a caption.
It’s a daily battle behind closed doors.

While some are hashtagging #MentalHealthAwareness, others are just trying to get out of bed.

While some are posting polished reels on resilience, others are silently drowning, with no camera, no audience, and no “likes” to validate their pain.

This isn’t to shame those who are speaking up.
We need awareness. We need more conversation.
But what we don’t need is performance over presence.

Because behind every “I’m fine” is often a story that hasn’t been safe to tell yet. And behind every person championing others is often someone who’s had to crawl through their own darkness, without applause, without algorithms, and without anyone even noticing.

Let’s not forget the people who:

– Check in on others but rarely get checked on
– Keep showing up to work, parenting, caregiving, leading, even while breaking
– Post nothing because their energy is spent simply surviving

Mental health isn’t linear. And it’s not always visible.

So before we post about awareness, ask:
- Am I really available for what someone might say if they told me the truth?
- Am I creating space — not just content?

- Am I checking in, even when there’s no World Mental Health Day hashtag trending?

Because true advocacy means staying in the conversation when the spotlight moves on.

At the Imperfectly Perfect Campaign, we don’t do performative.
We do people.
We share the real, the raw, the rarely spoken, because that’s what makes others feel less alone.

To anyone still fighting silently, we see you.

And to anyone with a platform:
Use it for truth, not trends.