Pacific Magazines' title Marie Claire has launched Shine a Light, a consumer awareness campaign targeting the stigma and stereotypes in female mental health issues.
The campaign features as online hub, forums, high profile celebrity ambassadors and a national publicity campaign. The interactive online component of the campaign is an electronic forum in which people all over the world can support mental illness.
Celebrities involved in the campaign include Asher Keddie, Ricki-Lee Coulter, Charlotte Dawson, Samantha Armytage, Jessica Rowe, Ada Nicodemou and Zoe Tuckwell-Smith. They share their stories of how everything from stress to severe depression has touched their lives.
Marie Claire editor/publisher Jackie Frank said: “By 2020, depression will be the second biggest cause of disability worldwide after heart disease. In Australia alone, more than three million people experience depression and anxiety each year. Horrifyingly, three in four of those people also say that the stigma associated with mental illness will have a devastating impact on their lives. It's crucial that Australian attitudes towards mental health change.
“Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression, but worries about judgement often keep them from speaking out.”
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