TODAY, OUR LIVES ARE INTERTWINED WITH THE SCREENS WE HOLD IN OUR HANDS. I REALIZED I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE LIES THAT PERPETUATE KIND OF POOR OUTCOMES FOR PEOPLE ON THEIR MENTAL HEALTH, SOCIAL MEDIA, LABELED BY SOME AS A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD, CONNECTS US INSTANTLY BUT CAN ALSO SERVE AS A BREEDING GROUND FOR STRUGGLES. WHEN CONSIDERING CREATORS MENTAL HEALTH, THEY PUT OUT CONTENT A LOT OF THE TIME THAT MEANS A LOT TO THEM THAT THEY’VE WORKED VERY HARD ON AND SOMETIMES THERE ARE PEOPLE FOR WHATEVER REASON, THEY JUST WANT TO SHOW UP IN A NEGATIVE MINDSET ON THEIR PAGE. CONSTANT COMPARISON, UNREALISTIC STANDARDS AND THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF VALIDATION CAN TAKE A TOLL ON THE MENTAL WELL-BEING FOR CREATORS AND CONSUMERS. SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESS ARE NOT BAD WORDS. BUT WHAT ABOUT INFLUENCERS WHO USE THEIR PLATFORMS TO TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH? TODAY, THERE’S OVER 100 BILLION USES OF THE HASHTAG MENTAL HEALTH ON TIKTOK ALONE, AND SO A HUGE VARIETY OF OF KINDS OF POSTS AMIDST ALL THE NOISE, THERE IS HOPE. I THINK IN THE END, RIGHT, IS CREATORS JUST LIKE THEIR LEADERS OF PHYSICAL COMMUNITIES, THEY’RE LEADERS OF DIGITAL COMMUNITIES. SO WE’RE INTERESTED IN HOW THOSE COMMUNITIES ARE AFFECTED BY CREATORS IN COLLABORATION WITH HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, SEVERAL INFLUENCERS PARTICIPATED IN AN EXPERIMENT. SENIOR DIRECTOR AMANDA YARNELL, OUR FIRST INTENT WITH IT WAS TO INFLUENCE INFLUENCERS TO MAKE MORE EVIDENCE BASED CONTENT. HARVARD ARMED THE CREATORS WITH TOOLKITS ON TOPICS LIKE INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA, AS WELL AS PROVIDING ACCESS TO SCIENTISTS AND SUMMIT STYLE COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS. WE FOUND THAT CREATORS WHO WERE EXPOSED TO OUR TOOLKITS, TO THOSE MATERIALS, THEY WERE MORE LIKELY TO USE IT AND. TO SHARE IT ON. ON TIKTOK. BUT ALSO, AND MAYBE MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE VIDEOS THAT THEY MADE SHARING THAT EVIDENCE GOT MILLIONS OF MORE VIEWS ON TIKTOK AFTER VERSUS BEFORE. ONE OF THE CREATORS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT WAS KATE SPEAR, AND HER SERVICE DOG, DOCTOR WAFFLE. REMEMBER FINALLY FEELING CONFIDENT? I DON’T FEEL CONFIDENT, REALLY. EVER. I LITERALLY WALK AROUND WITH A BEAR TO KNOW WHAT’S REAL BECAUSE I WAS PSYCHOTIC FOR A DECADE AND SO IT’S HARD TO TRUST MY REALITY. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, WHEN YOU PRINT OUT A TOOLKIT THAT’S STAMPED WITH HARVARD, YOU BELIEVE THAT THAT IS THE SCIENCE. AND SO WHEN YOU GET ON INSTAGRAM OR TIKTOK AND CAN SPEAK TO IT, YOU KNOW THAT WHEN THE DROVES OF HATE COME YOUR WAY, WHICH THEY INEVITABLY DO, YOU CAN SAY, ACTUALLY, YEAH, HERE’S THE CITATION, HERE’S THE LINK. SHE RUNS TWO SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS, BOTH WITH A FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH, NAVIGATING SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS, AND ALSO BROKEN MENTAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. SO POSITIVELY, KATE, WHICH IS NOW UNDER MY MY NAME KATE SPEAR AND WAFFLE NUGGET HAVE BASICALLY ALMOST POLAR OPPOSITE AUDIENCES. MY PERSONAL AUDIENCE IS FOR PEOPLE AND THEN PEOPLE’S FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCES WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS. LET ME TELL YOU, WAFFLE NUGGET IS IS HONESTLY JUST ABOUT DOGS BEING MEDICINE. YOU LITERALLY JUST GOT HER AS A PET, SOMEONE TO KEEP ME COMPANY WHILE NAVIGATING MY PSYCHOSIS. MY HALLUCINATIONS BACK THEN CHANGED INTO. REALLY ONE OF THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE AND LIFE SAVING THINGS THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME. AND SO THE PAGE BECAME A SPACE WHERE I SHARED THE JOURNEY OF WAFFLE BECOMING A SERVICE DOG. IT’S WHERE I SHARED THE STORY OF HER LEARNING TO SMELL THE CHANGES IN MY BODY. WAFFLE A LIFESAVER FOR SPEAR, HELPING HER DAILY. I DIDN’T EVEN THINK, OH, I’M MAKING A SERVICE DOG. I THOUGHT, OH MY GOSH, I’M FINDING A WAY TO TRUST MY LIFE. I’M FINDING A WAY TO SAVE MY LIFE AND AND SHE’S GOING TO BE THE ONE TO DO IT. I LITERALLY TRAINED HER ONE THING LIKE SHE COULDN’T COME ON COMMAND. SHE WAS STILL CHEWING DRYWALL, BUT MAN COULD SHE ALERT ON CUE. BASICALLY, I TOOK A STINKY, STINKY PANIC ATTACK SWEAT SOAKED T SHIRT, PUT IT IN A ZIPLOC BAG, AND EVERY TIME I’D OPEN IT, I’D ASK FOR THE POOR FROM POOR TO EXTREMELY RAW. LITTLE MIDDAY REMINDER FOR THOSE OF US BATTLING OUR MINDS, WE ARE STILL HERE. WE’RE REALLY SCARED OF THE WORD PSYCHOSIS, AND WE’RE REALLY TERRIFIED OF THE WORD SUICIDE. AND YET EVERY TIME WE DON’T USE THEM, WE MAKE PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITH THEM OR LIVE WITH SUICIDAL IDEATION UNMENTIONABLE. AND I’M NOT UNMENTIONABLE. HER WORDS HAVE MEANING, WHICH IS WHY BEING PART OF THE COLLABORATION AT HARVARD WAS SO IMPORTANT. I JUST REMEMBER FEELING SO EXCITED BECAUSE I FELT LIKE HARVARD GOT IT. THESE PEOPLE GOT IT THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY PEOPLE LIKE, ESPECIALLY THE YOUTH OF THIS COUNTRY, BUT MOST NOTABLY THE WORLD, WERE GETTING THEIR INFORMATION ON THESE PLATFORMS. AND THE ONLY WAY, WHILE WE WHETHER THE LIKE NOTABLY LONG ROAD TO REGULATING THESE PLATFORMS IS TO IMPROVE THAT MISINFORMATION ECOSYSTEM AS BEST WE CAN. INTERESTING. AND A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN BY KATE ACTUALLY IMPACTED LAW IN NEW YORK STATE. KIDS ACCESS TO OVER THE COUNTER DIET PILLS AND MUSCLE BUILDING SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOW LIMITED. RIGHT? THAT WAS CONSIDERED A VICTORY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY BY HARVARD RESEARCHERS AND SIMILAR LEGISLATION IS NOW BEING CONSIDERED THIS YEAR IN MASSACHUSETTS. STIL