#MindYourSelfie campaign to support youth mental health

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler on Pexels

This year’s #MindYourSelfie campaign from Walk in My Shoes has introduced a timely resource to support positive youth mental health ,with a recent survey highlighting that 78% of young people in Ireland cite climate change as their biggest fear for the future, through engaging in nature-based activities that protect and enhance the planet, while also enhancing our own wellbeing.

#MindYourSelfie campaign to support youth mental health

Taking place this year on 11 May, #MindYourSelfie Day was originally developed in 2016 by Walk in My Shoes, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services’ flagship mental health awareness and education campaign, as a way to encourage people, particularly young people, to start conversations about positive mental health and to tackle stigma by sharing wellbeing tips across social media.

For its 2022 #MindYourSelfie campaign, Walk in My Shoes has teamed up with Birdwatch Ireland, Biodiversity in Schools and Leave No Trace Ireland to develop a nature-based mental health activity resource for secondary school students – Minding Your Self, Minding Nature. The resource explores the links between nature and our mental health; highlighting ways young people can connect with nature in daily life to support their wellbeing while also taking actions to protect nature and help the planet.

The resource includes:

• Information about some of the different ways that connecting with nature can support positive mental health.
• Ideas for nature-based activities that young people can do in the classroom or at home.
• A ‘nature wellbeing plan’ for each young person to make.

Youth Mental Health and Eco-Anxiety

With the recent Government announcement that Climate Action and Sustainable Development is to be added to the Leaving Certificate Curriculum over the coming years, #MindYourSelfie day is a timely opportunity for students to learn about protecting nature and its connection to positive mental health.

Speaking about this year’s #MindYourSelfie campaign, CEO of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Paul Gilligan, said: “Increasingly, more and more people are becoming worried about the fate of our planet and what lies ahead for future generations. By taking positive action to help protect nature we can be empowered and ease feelings of eco-anxiety and helplessness, all the while maintaining our wellbeing.

Engaging and connecting with nature is a powerful way to support our mental health in daily life and can also have great benefits for the environment. This year’s #MindYourSelfie day is an opportunity for us all to celebrate our wonderful natural world, and to look at how we can take care of nature as it takes care of us.”

In addition to the launch of a new resource, this year’s campaign is also calling on the public to share their pictures, videos or any kind of content of their favourite place in nature that boosts their wellbeing or lifts their spirits, with an aim of sparking conversations about mental health and climate change. Whether it’s on a sandy shore, in a blossoming forest or close to home in your local green or park, we want to see where you connect with nature and how it makes you feel.

Everyone can take part in #MindYourSelfie day by:

1. Taking a picture, making a video or creating a reel and posting it to their social media channels.
2. Tagging Walk in My Shoes – @stpatricks_wims on Instagram or @walkinmyshoes on Facebook and Twitter.
3. Using the #MindYourSelfie hashtag.
4. Everyone who takes part on social media will be entered into a draw to win a gift voucher. They just need to use the hashtag #MindYourSelfie in their posts and tag Walk in My Shoes’ social accounts on the day to get involved.