Mental health campaigns are on the rise – and it’s easy to see why. The past few years have upended our lives. We’ve been navigating mass uncertainty, tight-roping blurred work-life boundaries, and trying to avoid an ever-evolving virus. It’s been a rough ride, to say the least.
44% of consumers say their stress/anxiety levels have gotten worse because of the pandemic.
Our latest stats on mental health, published in Connecting the Dots, tell a grave picture:
- Young people, in particular, have been disproportionately affected. 50% of Gen Z say their mental health got worse compared to 37% of baby boomers.
- Many employees report worsening levels of mental health, regardless of whether they work from home or not.
- 25% of US consumers experience stress at least occasionally, and 23% experience anxiety.
- 77% of consumers across all the markets covered in GWI Zeitgeist are concerned about Covid-19 variants.
Against this backdrop, it’s no surprise consumers around the world have made looking after themselves a priority. 2022 is the year of you: two-thirds of consumers are now more conscious of looking after their physical and mental health.
Brands are showing their support for this shift, too, with a series of successful mental health campaigns for their customers and employees.
In fact, the global vacation week began to trend in 2021 as a way to combat company-wide burnout. Bumble employees had a paid week off, and Nike shut its offices, with LinkedIn, PwC, The New York Times, and even Google following suit.
In short, even when you’re on holiday, your working life ticks away without you, leading to FOMO, sneaky email checking, and out-of-office paranoia. But if the entire assembly line decides to pause, you can too.
The growing need consumers have for mental health help can also be tracked against the number of people turning to tech solutions. According to digital health pioneer, ORCHA, “the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns saw a 200% increase in the use of mental health apps. But far from falling away to pre-pandemic levels, the use of mental health apps has continued to grow at an average rate of 55%.”
Meanwhile, our data shows that in the US alone, the portion of consumers consulting a doctor/healthcare professional online has increased by 36% since Q2 2020.