Identity and Mental Health

The past two years have been different. They have shaken us and opened up inner darkness that seemed closed. The pandemic has destabilised many people. The predominant feeling is loneliness.

To what extent is our psyche and its health related to our identity? The psyche seems to be the unexplainable in us. Some people try to suppress their negative thoughts. Others identify themselves through the health of their psyche. Outside our inner circle, we don’t talk about the heaviness that weighs on our mental health. Social media has given an apparent frame to this issue. In fact, however, we need the connection to the real world. Wouldn’t it be possible to give up some of our fears, insecurities, and questions by sharing them? The following project tries to do this with posters, stickers as well as an Instagram page (@howoftendoyoucry) where heavy thoughts and questions are exposed. The posters are meant to raise our awareness and reduce taboos and stigmatisation. They encourage us to start communicating with ourselves and others.

These cheerful posters, stickers and posts deal with a heavy subject and try to bring our psyche and identity together. The result is a “mental health campaign” that aims for nothing more than self-reflection and an open exchange that conveys the message that talking about our mental health is not a weakness.