Instagram and Pretty Little Liars Star Troian Bellisario Team Up to Talk About Mental Illness

As the nation kicks off Mental Health Awareness Week, we would like to showcase a recent partnership with Instagram and Troian Bellisario.
 

Those us who are familiar with mental health illnesses know that oftentimes sufferers mask their symptoms. Nowhere is that more true than in social media.
 
Think about it. How many of our online friends do we see publishing upbeat, glamorous and fun-filled posts and pictures day in, day out? Their lives look like the fantasy of how we’d like our lives to be. But it may be an illusion. These online friends may be putting a shine on their days while not sharing the less dazzling parts – and there’s nothing wrong with that. We are all entitled to privacy. We all have the right to share only that which we choose to make public.
 
The flip side is that if you are struggling with a mental illness, like depression, anxiety or an eating disorder, you may be comparing your life to these online friends and find yourself falling short.
 
We applaud Instagram for tackling this issue head on through their campaign #HereForYou, which encourages users to open up about their own struggles with mental health and join a global conversation. Most importantly, Instagram is providing access to resources for those in need.
 
"People come to Instagram to tell their stories in a visual, and through an image they're able to communicate how they're feeling, what they're doing," Instagram's Chief Operating Officer Marne Levine told ABC News. "So what we decided to do is to create a video campaign highlighting these communities of support that exist in Instagram.
 
"We feature three different community members who are all dealing with different issues, from eating disorders to depression," Marne added.
 
For the campaign, Instagram teamed up with "Pretty Little Liars" star Troian Bellisario, who has spoken out in the past about her own struggles with eating disorders, to help others dealing with similar issues.
 
Through this partnership, they have garnered national attention to the subject of mental health and eating disorders. And for that, we are very grateful.