If you would like to contribute to the All in Our Head project by sharing your story, I would love for you to do so. You can find out how to get involved below.
This project aims to do 3 things:
- Address the stigma that still exists in society about mental illness
- Help people with mental illness stand in solidarity with each other during a time of great adversity (statistics and research are sadly but not surprisingly pointing to COVID-19 making mental health issues much more prevalent, and worse)
- Remind and educate people on the topic of mental illness: how common it is, how diverse individuals’ experiences can be, how much stigma there is, etc.
This project has been inspired by similar projects like Humans of New York, Humans of COVID-19 and Normal Bodies, which have all tried to highlight people’s experiences with life, COVID and body image respectively through photography/art and story-sharing.
Guidelines for your submission
- Word count:
The suggested word count for submissions is 500 words, but please go with whatever feels right for you - Photograph:
Please provide a photograph with your submission. It can be any orientation, but preferably with good resolution. This can be of you, of someone you have written about, or of an object/place/pet (whatever) that you mention in your story. If it’s a photo of someone else, please make sure you have their permission to post it. Similarly, if it’s not your image, please make sure you have permission to use it. If you don’t have a photo, I can help you source a creative commons one - Anonymity:
You can choose whether you want to put your first name to your submission or whether you would prefer to remain anonymous. Please let me know when you email in your submission – if you don’t specify, I will always double-check before publishing anything - Prompts:
You may want some prompts, in which case there is a list below of different questions that may get you thinking. These are just suggestions, and if you want to talk about something not covered by these questions, please do!- Tell us a bit about yourself
- What is your experience of mental illness? (e.g. your own experience / you care for someone / you work in mental health, etc.)
- How has mental illness impacted you/your loved ones/your job? (can be day-to-day or long-term)
- How has your mental health been affected by your life circumstances, ethnicity, cultural background, sexuality, gender identity, and/or disability, for example?
- What would you want the world to know about mental illness?
- Do you have a story about stigma that you want to share?
- How has COVID-19 impacted you/those you care for?
- What advice would you give to others in a similar position?
- If you’ve struggled with mental illness, what or who helped you most to cope (or to get better)?
- What are your hopes for mental health in the future?
- Editing:
Apart from proof-reading and any feedback that you request, your story will be published as you tell it - Examples:
Please see the Our Stories page for what people have submitted before – ideally it will be a couple of paragraphs of free-flowing text rather than bullet points or question and answer
If you have any questions or are ready to enter a submission, please email aioh.miriam@gmail.com. Please make sure you specify:
- Your name, and how you want your submission to be attributed (your name or anonymous)
- Your photo and a caption
- Your story
- + anything else you would like to add
Thank you so much for agreeing to take part in this exciting project, it couldn’t exist without you.
Please note:
- You can choose how much you would like to share about yourself – you can put your first name to your submission or anonymous
- Your submissions will be treated confidentially and treated as you wish for them to be. The only person who will have access to them is me (Miriam). If you have chosen to be anonymous, your name will never be made public. As soon as your submission has been agreed and uploaded, your email will be deleted so that it doesn’t remain in an inbox
- Submissions and photos will be shared on this website and the Instagram and Facebook pages
- If you change your mind at any time about being involved, your story can be deleted from all platforms at your request, just send an email to aioh.miriam@gmail.com
All In Our Head 