Speaking Up About Mental Health

National Essay Contest

Mental health is an important part of overall health across all life stages. However, far too often, symptoms are not addressed or recognized among teens.

Speaking Up About Mental Health is an essay contest that challenges high school students ages 16-18 to raise awareness of mental health. The contest gives students a platform to share ways to eliminate and/or reduce mental health stigma faced by young people, especially in diverse communities.

This contest is soliciting essays that:

• Discuss ways to eliminate and/or reduce mental health stigma faced by young people, especially in diverse communities
• Share resilience and coping strategies to overcome mental health issues such as social isolation and loneliness, depression, and anxiety
• Address mental health stigma
• Encourage conversations about mental health, social media, and/or technology
• Suggest school policies or practices that could help reduce stigma
• Describe barriers to mental health treatment
• Cover other areas of concern to individuals and their communities with respect to mental health

The contest is led by:

National Institute of Mental Health

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Page updated Dec. 8, 2023