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Available for over a year

A short film on mental health, encouraging viewers to care for their own wellbeing and that of others, is an unlikely chart topper. Yet such a film, on the Every Mind Matters website, has attracted so many hits that the website crashed, and left users with the message, ‘Something went wrong. Please refresh or try again later’. This, I think, perfectly encapsulates the dilemma of digital efforts to respond to mental health challenges. Something has gone wrong, and people long for the possibility of being refreshed, or just putting life on hold and trying again later. Social media has been an astonishing tool for breaking down stigma. With one click, celebrity voices can fill the space in our living rooms, sharing their own struggles, and making it OK not to be OK. With a thread of comments, a virtual community of those who share similar challenges is born. Social media has been an immense force for good in giving a voice to those who struggle, and creating new spaces of sharing and belonging. Yet, equally, there is something heartbreaking at the thought of so many struggling alone, when the light turns off their empty screens. The Christian tradition has long used Psalms as a way to pray. Reading the Psalms is a bracing experience: they are prayers, but they are not polite, not easy, not compliant or serene. They are brutally honest about the struggles of being human. They give voice to depression, anxiety, anger, despair, suicidal thoughts… Every emotion is valid, every person, every mind matters. Not just to us, but to God. But they do something more, something that can take us beyond screens and digital media: they also invite us into a movement of solidarity. This ancient wisdom tells us that one of the ways we respond to mental health challenges is by forming radical, truthful communities, where we do not dress up how we feel but where truth-telling is the first step towards healing, where we can stand together and listen to one another, as real persons. Then we can take a step beyond what social media can provide: beyond hiding behind an online identity and doctored picture, and instead, holding another’s hand and sitting with them in their distress. Ultimately, this is what the video calls us to do: to step beyond the fragile sense of community that social media provides, and care for real human beings: ourselves, and those around us.