The #JustCheckingIn Movement
This project is dedicated to Karen Saywitz, who devoted her life to fighting for accessible mental health treatments. She is also my mother. After her death, I set out to turn my grief into meaningful action, and help break down the stigmas surrounding mental health treatment.
CHALLENGE: In 2019, just one year before the COVID-19 pandemic, one in five adults experienced mental illness, which meant everyone knew someone struggling with these challenges. Still, mental health was taboo and not discussed openly. Post-Pandemic more then1 in five adults experience mental illness and suicide has become the second leading cause of death among people ages 10-24.
SOLUTION: We sparked a grassroots movement through the power of social media. #JustCheckingIn helps normalize mental health treatment and save lives from suicide by encouraging people to reach out to loved ones who may be struggling. By destigmatizing the conversation, we also help those dealing with anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses feel more comfortable opening up to find community and help.
RESULTS: “Just Checking In” has become part of everyday conversation, and our hashtag has been used by unpaid celebrities and influencers, covered by E! News, featured on BuzzFeed, and viewed well over 150 million times through GIFs we created that trended on Instagram Stories. More importantly, it has helped thousands of people openly share their mental health journeys online, and even more offline. People have used the hashtag and GIFs to announce that they are starting therapy for the first time, to speak honestly about challenges that were once taboo, and to advocate for checking in on loved ones or initiate hard conversations.
The project began during Mental Health Awareness Month at a Creative Week panel I led with the goal of raising awareness for mental health through hashtag activism. Panelists included Doug Melville (then Chief Diversity Officer of TBWA), Allison Raskin (mental health influencer and NYT Best-Selling Author), Lee Chernotsky (Non-Profit founder), and Elle Ginter (a director who gives voice to the voiceless).
STEP ONE: Seeding the Concept on Social with the Right Voice
It was important to launch the movement with a leading voice in the fight to destigmatize mental illness. Allison Raskin is an influencer, podcast host and YouTube creator, who was also studying to become a therapist, making her an ideal partner. Thanks to her 250K Instagram followers and 110K Twitter followers, we were able to seed the concept with a wide audience already passionate about the cause. Before this launch, posts tagged #JustCheckingIn were not unified around a single topic and rarely focused on mental health or checking in on loved ones.
STEP TWO: Growing through Influential Endorsements and an Engaged Audience
Even before the pandemic, #JustCheckingIn was beginning to take off. An early BuzzFeed feature encouraged thousands of people to use it to open up and be vulnerable about mental illness. Established brands and mental health organizations added their voice and continue to build content around the concept by creating their own #JustCheckingIn resources.
The Just Checking In film has 15K+ views | Claudia Restrepo is a Los Angeles-based writer, director and actor, focusing on Latinx content for BuzzFeed's Pero Like.
STEP THREE: Staying Relevant with Cultural Shifts (ie. COVID-19)
As people were asked to stay at home, a mental health crisis began to unfold. It became more important than ever to check in on loved ones. But, with so much happening in our own lives, finding the time to reach out, let alone know what to say, became more challenging. So in May 2020, for Mental Health Awareness Month, we made it easier and quicker for people to show they care by launching a series of #JustCheckingIn GIFs that helped bring the concept deeper into popular culture and further reduce the stigma. To create the GIFs, I partnered with GIPHY Artist of the Year, Megan Motown. The #JustCheckingIn GIFs instantly began trending on GIPHY and appeared at the top of Instagram Stories GIF recommendations. In less than a year, they had over 150 million combined views (not including loops).
We’ve also inspired other designers to create their own GIFs, furthering our mission to make it easier than ever to reach out and start these difficult conversations. We saw an immediate trend on GIPHY with hundreds of new GIFs featuring mental-health positive messages. In fact, around the same time our GIFs were trending on Instagram, the New England Patriots shared their own “Just Checking In” GIF. To find our GIFs, search the term “Just Checking In“ on your mobile GIPHY keyboard, through Instagram Story GIFs, or on the GIPHY Website here.
Enduring movements don’t happen overnight, and they certainly don’t belong to any individuals. While we may have been at the right place at the right time to ignite a spark, #JustCheckingIn is still at the beginning of its journey. Still, none of this would be possible without the Creative Week panelists and audience who ideated the hashtag, Allison Raskin who introduced it to the world, Megan Motown who made the phrase accessible, and most importantly, the millions of people who have used #JustCheckingIn in their own way.