In March 2020, the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in a lockdown and social distancing restrictions with far-reaching economic, political, social, and educational consequences. The closure of educational institutes across the globe in 143 countries has shifted from physical learning to online learning, drastically changing the studying and working pattern
The impact of COVID 19 has disrupted education at every level and, consequently, the life of the students. The mental health issue is widespread among the students in India, which has gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 10 October 2020, world mental health day, Bollywood actor Ali Fazal stated, “So many people suffer through mental illnesses, and many don’t even recognize it due to the lack of awareness in our society. If we don’t speak up now, it will continue to worsen and cause irrevocable harm to so many for whom help can be provided easily. Today, the situation is already worse than ever, given the constant stress and fear of Covid-19 and lockdowns, making it harder to cope for almost everybody.
Nevertheless, no such initiative was administered among the students regarding mental illness on behalf of any educational institutes or public figure in the unprecedented situation arising from COVID 19, as students were the most affected group. Therefore, campaign #TalkToSolve should create help-seeking behavior and awareness and extract their mental issues.
What will the campaign #TalkToSolve do?
The Mission of this campaign is to empower the students who are suffering from mental health problems, designed by Ankit Bharti. The aim of the campaign is to create national awareness about the consequences of mental health challenges that students have faced during the pandemic, also, promoting a positive outlook by discussing this issue and providing the information to constrain the notion of stigma attached to mental health.
A social media campaign will be created to encourage a positive outlook by utilizing hashtags, storyline and posters to raise awareness about mental health issues through Facebook. The intention of the campaign through social media is to achieve mass media attention. While the aim of this campaign can be viewed as a long-term goal, in the short term campaign plan that is crucial to the ability to achieve this aim.
Campaign through the media
Mass media indicates media technology that reaches a mass audience. It conveys information to the public about social issues and other current issues .Thus, the internet is considered as a part of mass media that can also be used to communicate with each other easily, such as social media. The user of social media can be both the audience and content creator. Through the utilization of mass media campaigns, various health behaviors have influenced the large number of people. Media campaigns can be short-term or long-term. The stigmatization of mental health has become a major social issue, with the media serving as a popular source of information. Mass media campaigns can directly and indirectly generate positive changes and prevent negative changes in health-related behaviors among the large population. Thus, the mass media can play an efficient role to reach as well as spread the information and can easily convey with the students those who are suffering from mental health issues. The ability to use mass media, social media has become a central part to the success of the campaign #TalkToSolve.
Social Media Campaign
First Stage
To begin the campaign #TalkToSolve started by creating posts on Facebook that establish clear evidence that the several uncertainties generated in the life of students due to the COVID 19 pandemic impacted severely on student’s mental health. These posts will include evidence presented by the WHO and the Indian Psychiatry Society, as well as the campaign hashtag. our long-term aim for delivering a positive message, it has been established that promoting a campaign in the short-term benefits which is somewhat unfavorable or outrage content.
Therefore, #TalkToSolve should take an initiative to reach out to numerous students in a short time by posting positive content on Facebook. (#TalkToSolve) to say, talk to solve the issue of mental health, it emphasizes that mental illness can affect anyone, it is not caused by character, personal flaws, or poor upbringing and are preventable and treatable. When we can accurately point out, name, and define mental illness we can have a common vocabulary to talk about it with the aim to solve the problem. Students who suffer from mental health can actively talk about their feelings to lighting the load that may help them to stay in good mental health.
Second stage
To make the best use of social media coverage, raise the awareness and maximize the influence, the campaign will progress by posting positive content that encourages students to talk about their mental health problem through our hashtag, because “Students need to be heard and listened to”, this message is important as student deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and understand the changes in their behavior, and health rather than discriminate or judged them or labelled them “mentally weak”. Through this storyline on Facebook #TalkToSolve, seeking help to increase the visibility of the campaign with the support of celebrities such as Deepika Padukone and “Hash-tagged” her foundation “Live Love Laugh”, we can connect audiences and communities that might otherwise be unreachable. Through these storylines posts we will continue to utilize a positive message on Facebook that enables students to share their mental health problems and constraint the notion of stigma.
Third Stage
To increase the awareness and understanding to change the attitude, people get involved in a cause, with the use of influential figures to promote the messages so, our campaign can reach to a mass media for social change, because public figures have strong media and community relations which can help #TalkToSolve to get more publicity as well as increases the brand value. Therefore, the campaign #TalkToSolve should seek support from the celebrities to promote our campaign that raises awareness in the large number of people in India.
Justification for social media & Utilization of Facebook
Social media has become a vital and fundamental part of millions of people throughout the world. Currently, in India there are 448.0 million active social media users, the number of social media users increased by 78 million between 2020 and 2021, which is equivalent to 32 percent of the total population in 2021 in India. Therefore, the users of social media within India can easily reach this campaign and it provides a mass audience that supports us to achieve our aim of creating a national awareness about the stigma attached to mental health problems among students.
In India, the number of Facebook users is expected to increase in the coming years and reach about 320 million by 2021. In accordance with the increase in users, the penetration rate of Facebook in India will rise from 15% in 2016 to around 23% in 2021. This campaign will utilize Facebook, by considering that this is the most used social media site in India. in a way of communication and spread our message to the public. recognizes that social media platforms are part of a unified system; social media users rarely situate to one platform instead having an account on several social media sites. The users of Facebook discuss social issues by ‘liking’, ‘commenting’, and sharing ‘hash-tagged’ content. The behavior of commenting and sharing on content are considered as a public display and participating towards the issue.
Positive message
The campaign #TalkToSolve aims to empower students who are suffering from mental health problems by promoting a positive message and constraining the stigma attached to mental health among students. Positive social messages, like our own messages, can help to change attitudes around mental health stigma by raising awareness and assisting in the transformation of attitudes. The messages that are framed should have a substantial impact on how the public views our cause and the campaign’s importance. By emphasizing certain aspects of an issue more prominent through various modes of presentation, such as positive messages, it is possible to influence the public perception regarding the stigma attached to mental health difficulties as well as their attitude about the cause.
On a long-term goal, through positive content, appeals are beneficial to encourage the student’s so that they can actively talk about their feelings and perception to lighten the load. and highlights the desirable future outcomes. For example, “if these messages spread awareness among students, then they will seek help about mental illness”. Moreover, messages that engage the students through influential posts such as storyline and positive stories of conquering mental health. The potential to reach mass audiences through positive messages, that resulting in increased message outreach, in several ways such as by the use of social media, the positive messages that promote awareness and encourage a sense of connectedness are recognized to influence.
By Ankit Bharti
