The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major global phenomenon, a cause for consternation and panic throughout the world. The fear, anxiety, and doubt tied to the disease is only exacerbated by the news cycle that only makes things feel murkier day by day. According to US News, the United States recently recorded 55,000 cases in a single day, hospitalizations are at an all-time high, and things haven’t started looking up yet. There have been 2.7 million cases and more than 128,000 deaths in the US alone for this virus. Multiple US states are affected, and the public health crisis is in full swing according to experts from many reported institutions.
It shouldn’t, then, be a surprise that the strong emotions inspired by all these issues have caused an uptick in mental health problems for adults and children alike. While crucial, smaller things like self-isolation and social distancing can cause loneliness and stress that can be hard to do away with, it isn’t easy to talk about these things either, unfortunately. Since these actions really aren’t optional, the only solution is to learn how to cope with stress in a healthy way and emerge on the other side of this pandemic as a caring, productive member of your community. In times like these, social media is the most approachable connection we have to the outside world. Here are some Instagram accounts that make you feel better about yourself and help in destigmatizing mental health issues.
If these accounts make you feel better about yourself and you would also like to spread the love, you can start your own account as a creative outlet that seeks to normalize and destigmatize certain mental health issues. To grow your channel, you can depend on word of mouth, do your own outreach, offer free posts in exchange for engagement, and even buy Instagram followers and likes.
Self-Care and Self-Love: The Latest Kate (@thelatestkate)
Anxiety is pretty rough to navigate, especially if the people around you have no experience with it themselves. You might end up being unkind to yourself because of how difficult things are around you, and listening to the people doesn’t feel like an option. This is where The Latest Kate comes in. Her wonderful, original artwork features an incredible variety of self-affirming messages against a gallery of animals drawn to be as cute as they are gorgeous. Her channel has covered a wide gamut of issues ranging from depression and anxiety to self-love and body positivity.
PTSD: Still Blooming Me (@stillbloomingme)
A traumatic life event can be extremely difficult to get past, especially if it has left you with physical or mental reminders that haunt you daily. Very few know this better than Elena Breese, a survivor of the Boston Marathon Bombing incident. She suffered for three years before being diagnosed with PTSD and voluntarily hospitalized. Having pushed herself through these extremely tough times, she wanted to chronicle her experiences on her blog, Still Blooming Me PTSD, which has since bloomed into an active Instagram account as well. What started off as a journaling attempt that she thought no one else would read has now become a source of hope and affirmation for hundreds of people online!
Bianca L. Rodriguez
Bianca L. Rodriguez had been struggling with anxiety, depression, and alcoholism. She has realized how distressing life could be if you are not mentally stable and healthy. Her Instagram account is an expression of her desire to be there with distressed people every step of the way on the road to recovery from mental health issues. Bianca has been successful in establishing a community of numerous like-minded people across the globe. She believes that everyone is complete and all the answers you are looking for could be found very much within you. She advises her followers to find a healer, mentor, or a spiritual advisor whenever they feel lost to guide them through their mental health journey.
Joanna Konstantopoulou
Joanna Konstantopoulou is a well-known registered health psychologist based in the United Kingdom. She helps her followers by posting regularly valuable mental health tips, encouraging or motivational quotes, and nutritional advice. Her greatest advice to all her followers is to give top priority to self-care. She believes that self-care is certainly an integral part of your physiological and emotional health. Joana uses a smart strategy. She believes that everybody must anticipate potential challenges that may come up during the coming week and accordingly get ready with an action plan or self-care plan well in advance to eliminate unnecessary anxiety, tension, or worries. Moreover, set aside ‘me-time’ every week for ensuring self-care is given utmost priority.
Amy Binns Anxiety Sugar
Amy Binns had been through bouts of anxiety and depression. She had identified certain Instagram motivational accounts where other people would go about sharing their mental health experiences and that inspired her to move ahead in life since she no longer felt that she was struggling alone. The agony and suffering of others made her feel determined to overcome all mental health challenges. She ultimately took a decision to start her very own Instagram account to share her experiences and mental health stories. Her Insta feed is full of flowers, books, motivational quotes, and coffee combined with truthful admission of her struggles and challenges with mental health.
Conclusion
In these precarious times, people are leading incredibly fast-paced and highly-competitive lives. They are becoming susceptible to numerous mental health conditions as they need to operate constantly under pressure to fulfill the demands of a highly taxing digital world. Hence, your mental peace and overall health could be compromised. It is best to keep following inspirational and motivational Instagram accounts to seek solace and peace of mind.