How Are You Really? This movement inspires authentic conversations surrounding our mental health
Catie Cole joined forces with the Mental Health Coalition to create How Are You, Really?, a mental health storytelling platform that encourages people to open up authentic dialogue surrounding their mental health.
Video Transcript
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: How are you really?
DEEPAK CHOPRA: How are you really?
CHRIS CUOMO: How are you doing right now?
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: It's a funny question, because everybody asks, but very few people can answer it.
CHRIS CUOMO: People struggle with anxiety and depression. They, too, are sick. I go to therapy.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Sometimes, the answer is, right now, I'm OK, but I'm not sure about the next 45 minutes. And that's OK.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CATIE COLE: How Are You, Really? My name is Catie Cole, and I'm the founder of How Are You, Really? I joined forces with the Mental Health Coalition back in February to create a mental health storytelling platform. The goal is to destigmatize mental health conditions and to educate and empower people to better understand their own feelings.
There's also just incredible therapeutic benefits of taking the time to separate yourself from your experiences and put words to your feelings. We asked some influential individuals to help us launch this today on existing social media communities. Deepak Chopra, Whoopi Goldberg, Arianna Huffington, Kendall Jenner, and Chris Cuomo.
These people with the sort of glamorized Instagram perfect lives also do have mental health, because we all do. We're living in this sort of virtual distant reality right now. We're all well-aware at this point of how effects of mental health the current social media platforms provide.
One cause, for example, is the artificial displays of approval, and addictive dopamine hits that we get through these likes and comments. We built How Are You, Really? to instead have what we're referring to as impact reactions. Users can express their encouragement for others by more specific, supportive reactions, such as giving a virtual hug, or letting them know that they relate.
With the overwhelmingly prevalent racial injustice and the resulting protests today, we're working to really use our platform to continue sharing the stories of black individuals in an effort to communicate that all Black Lives Matter, all black feelings matter, of course, all black stories matter. We want to do what we can to just listen and share always, but especially during this time.
So we've definitely heard from members of our community how reading these stories, and even just having an organization open up the dialogue around not how are you, but how are you really feeling, have inspired more authentic conversations between them and friends. You can go to howareyoureally.org and view people's stories about their mental health experiences to both educate, uplift, and maybe inspire you to share your own.
How Are You Really? is meant to just invite you to start thinking about that question, and to take time. Draw down some thoughts. Call a close friend. It's shown that that really does help you take these initial steps to bettering yourself, to bettering your understanding of your feelings, and ultimately to begin helping others as well.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
