Note: As of November 14, 2025 I am retiring my use of the #MentalHealthDailyCheckIn tag. I didn’t even come close to daily posting and it was pretty isolated. I am switching to the well-established and active #MentalHealthCheckIn tag instead.
If you are someone who lives with a mental health challenge or cares about someone who does, I recommend you follow the #MentalHealthCheckin hashtag on various social media platforms. There are lots of other people and organizations already posting.
#MentalHealthCheckIn – Bluesky
#MentalHealthCheckin – Mastodon
#MentalHealthCheckin – LinkedIn
#MentalHealthCheckin – Instagram
I will be sharing regularly using this hashtag on my own mental health challenges. These posts may sometimes be as simple as “struggling today” or “feeling hopeful” or “desirous of swordplay” and stuff like that. Nothing fancy.
In group therapy settings, it is common to start each session by having each participant share a quick update on how they’re doing/feeling that day, often referred to as the Daily Check-in. Are they struggling? Are they actually feeling pretty good for the first time in a while? Are they “precariously OK” as someone in one of my groups succinctly shared when they were just barely on the OK side of the OK vs Not OK boundary? Note: I actually applauded this person’s choice of words here as there is just so much meaning packed into two words. Just beautiful.
I’ve been pretty open about my mental health challenges over the past few years. My experience of this sharing has been awesome. As a straight, CIS-gendered, white male living well above the poverty line and with great access to health insurance, I come into this oozing privilege from every orifice. I totally get that. I will NOT tell you that this one thing that has helped me is the thing EVERYONE should do. That would be ridiculous and irresponsible. “You just need to” is NOT a way to start meaningful, well-intentioned advice. Be wary of people who choose to do that.
My goal in sharing my struggles has been and continues to be to help chip away at the stigma that still often gets attached to mental health. This stigma only serves to make it harder for people living with mental health challenges to reach out for the help they need. It keeps folks isolated, alone, struggling in silence.
I want to stress this: PLEASE do not pressure others or yourself to post. This is a personal choice each of us must make. If you are not open to sharing, that is absolutely OK. You are not less worthy of love and compassion by preferring to keep mental health struggles private.