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Brian Dyak is president , CEO and co - founder of the Entertainment Industries Council ( EIC ) , and executive producer of EICnetwork.tv . Carolyn Lukensmeyer is executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and a founder and past President of the United States of AmericaSpeaks . Lukensmeyer formerly served as advisor to the White House Chief of Staff from 1993 - 1994 and was Chief of Staff to Ohio Governor Richard Celeste from 1986 to 1991 . The authors contributed this article to   springy Science’sExpert voice : Op - Ed & Insights .

Social media was at first debate unique , then have , and now it ’s pervasive in our culture , with an unheralded capability to foster communication and gift people . More lately , that power is being turn towards genial health . It ’s a theme Americans seldom verbalise about , and the silence can literally be lives . Young people in particular are most affected , with most mental health problems — nearly three quarters of those reported — come forth before geezerhood 24 , according to a written report by researcher at Harvard Medical School . Now , 1000 of people are break through the muteness to discuss this topic in peer - created support community with insistent , digital access code to experts — building those communities has been as simple as Text , Talk , Act .

Expert Voices

If you’re a topical expert — researcher, business leader, author or innovator — and would like to contribute an op-ed piece,email us here.

make Community Solutionsfirst launched Text , Talk , Act in December 2013 , conflate texting , societal media and face - to - boldness conversation to give untried mass the entropy and self-assurance they ask to talk about genial health . Right now across the country , people are using the textual matter messaging platform to start conversations and discover resourcefulness for their own mental wellness , and to learn how to help friends in need . These gay citizenry are stop the secrecy and taking to social media to encourage others to blab about a too - prospicient unspoken subject .

The exploit bring together the better half of theText , Talk , Actmovement , include the Entertainment Industries Council , the University of Arizona National Institute for Civil Discourse , Lady Gaga’sBorn This Way Foundation , and others — they are bridge engineering science with scientific discipline and possible action communication line to elevate cognisance . It’sthe power of media , in this case social spiritualist , to encourage help - seeking behavior .

Finding help

Social Media Swirl

If you’re a topical expert — researcher, business leader, author or innovator — and would like to contribute an op-ed piece,email us here.

What would you do if someone you get laid was in need and help was only a text away ? Recentresearch provides some steering . The report — from the Empowerment Initiative at the University of Nebraska , Lincoln ( UNL ) , and the Born This Way Foundation — included an on-line survey of 2,645 untested people mature 13 to 25 .

The researchers set up that favourite methods of genial health service livery   varied widely based on age , gender , intimate preference and levels of anxiety or natural depression .   Among the most important findings ? equate with older demographic , younger participants preferred to try help through online and school text - based platforms rather of nerve - to - fount interactions .

The current version of Text , Talk , Act was shaped by the ideas submitted by that community and the enthusiastic reception to the political platform supports the UNL findings . During a late Text , Talk , Act event , 1,283 phone cable — stand for nearly 5,000 hoi polloi — were engaged in communicating about mental wellness . Participants entered the conversation through texting and social media , and stay to have facial expression - to face - dialog .   That especial even proceed viral , generating 4.2 million belief of # TextTalkAct on social media .

If you’re a topical expert — researcher, business leader, author or innovator — and would like to contribute an op-ed piece, email us here.

If you’re a topical expert — researcher, business leader, author or innovator — and would like to contribute an op-ed piece,email us here.

Perhaps it ’s the simplicity , perhaps it ’s the anonymity , perhaps it ’s the fact that digital fundamental interaction has been engrained in younger generation ' communicating protocol nearly all their lives , perhaps it ’s something all in all different — but whatever the reason , this glide path provides one more putz to reach a vulnerable population in a direction that is comfy and could help save lives .

Extending the range

young person organizersand early days governance ( such asActive Minds , Youth Move National , and   contain This Way Foundation ) have step up to start the news and coordinate " Text talking Events " on college campuses and in high schools around the state .   These organizers are creative , motivated , brave and frank in bringing thoughts about mental health into a vibrant dialog and potentially life - change conversation .

Human brain digital illustration.

The Entertainment Industries Council and other partners are patronage these young hoi polloi and encouraging them to make their voice heard by sharing # TextTalkAct , spreading knowingness of a related to PSA serial , and ferment with people in entertainment and news media to make communicating about genial wellness platitude . The message is emerging : It ’s o.k. to utter about mental wellness . in the end , paired with EIC’sTEAM Upmovement to reduce the stigma and favoritism around genial health challenges , Text , Talk , Act and the public will aim a broad change in attitude and behavior . [ The Power of Hashtag : Using Social Media to arouse Awareness ( Op - Ed ) ]

conjoin this groundbreaking conversation through the month of November , and be part of the alteration to terminate the silence on mental illness .   Just grab a smartphone , a few champion and textual matter START to 89800 .

Illustration of a brain.

a photo of an eye looking through a keyhole

Brain activity illustration.

A collage-style illustration showing many different eyes against a striped background

an illustration of a man shaping a bonsai tree

close up on a young woman�s hands as she�s holding a phone with its screen away from the camera

photo of a man rock climbing with mountains pictured in the background

an athletic man wearing shorts and a tank top kneels on a running track as if exhausted

Illustration of a cell being surrounded by free radicals to demonstrate oxidative stress

illustration of the gap between two neurons, with glowing spheres (representing neurotransmitters) passing between the cells

woman inspecting grey heads along her hairline

two white wolves on a snowy background

A still from the movie "The Martian", showing an astronaut on the surface of Mars

An illustration of a hand that transforms into a strand of DNA

An abstract illustration of rays of colorful light

An illustration of a pensive Viking woman sitting by the sea

lady justice with a circle of neon blue and a dark background

an abstract illustration depicting the collision of subatomic particles