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Springfield YMCA  More Than My Mood

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#MTMM Campaign

Out of a need to reduce generational stigma around mental health and to spread awareness about the impacts of stress, anxiety and depression, the Youth Mental Health Coalition decided to create an awareness campaign specifically for youth and families in the Greater Springfield area.


To ensure the receptivity of the campaign, we knew we would have to include our Beat the Odds Youth Advisors and community every step of the way.  In 2021, a multi-sector communications committee was formed to help inform the campaign and decision-making.  In Fall of 2022, marketing firm Axiom Blue was hired to develop our mental health awareness communications campaign. 


Then, we got to work!

  • STEP 1

    Information Gathering: We hosted focus groups with youth and adults in the Springfield community and distributed a Youth Voice Survey to expand our reach of youth input from Springfield.  Common themes were drawn from both the youth and adult focus groups.

  • STEP 2

    Interactive Marketing Workshops:  Beat the Odds youth advisors from the South End Community Center and Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services worked with Axiom Blue to determine the campaign style, design, and colorways to use.

  • STEP 3

    Meet & greet with the CGI (computer-generated image) photographer and fashioner designer.  BTO helped inform what the campaign should look and feel like, they shared what a youth’s bedroom might look like, what the bathroom at their school looks like, what styles of clothes and sneakers they like to wear, etc.  At this meeting we really focused in on the details.

  • STEP 4

    Lights, Camera, Action!  BTO and other youth models selected by the marketing firm arrived on set for a full day of makeup and outfit changes.  The youth had quite a memorable time learning about the behind-the-scenes necessities in creating ads, and how CGI works in advertising.  They felt like stars, ready to represent a mental health awareness campaign. 

  • STEP 5

    After the youth photos were placed into the CGI scenes, after BTO, the communications committee, and other members of the YMHC were able to weigh in, edits were made, and here we have our final product! The I am More Than My Mood mental health awareness campaign created for Springfield youth and families, guided by Springfield youth and we couldn’t be prouder of the product we – as a community – created!

We are thankful to our funders

for this opportunity: 
City of Springfield, The Davis Foundation, Trinity Health of New England, The Whitcomb Foundation, Women’s Fund of Western MA .

Campaign Materials

#MTMM Campaign Goals

The goal of this campaign is to encourage youth, adults and caregivers in the Greater Springfield area to begin having conversations about stress, anxiety, and depression as common challenges that everyone goes through.  We aim to satisfy the need to know where to find help and how to identify signs of stress, anxiety, and depression in ourselves and loved ones.  The campaign directs community to the morethanmymood.org website that houses readily available resources whether you’re a young-person, adult working with youth, parent or caregiver, educator, coach, Sunday school teacher, or just someone who wants to learn more!  

I’m Starting with That Girl in the Mirror 

Have you ever caught yourself putting on one face in public when you really are feeling something different on the inside because that’s what it seems like people expect? What would it feel like if instead, we could find the courage to showcase how we really feel, and be proud of who we truly are? What sort of support would we need to get to that point and find ways to overcome this challenge? How can you show to the outside world: I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD.

Clueless to What I’m Going Through

PERFECTION. Something many of us try to achieve daily. Often, we can be clueless to the fact that perfect does not exist! What signs does society show us that makes us feel like we have to be perfect? What do we see in TV Shows, hear in music lyrics, or scroll past on social media that makes us feel like we have to be perfect or present ourselves a certain way – even if that version of ourselves isn’t authentic? What would it look like, feel like, and sound like if you were to show that there’s more beneath the surface, more than what meets the eye….

I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD 

Living Off the Wall

They say I live off the wall, and everyone else wants to be like me.  But it’s because I’m trying to get away, trying to come out of the spotlight - I might be popular, I might be swaggy, I might be impulsive…. but trust me, I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD.

Living Off the Wall

“Don’t let the babyface fool you! He’s off the wall!” That’s what they say about me. I’m too young to have struggles; that’s what they think…. So sure, I’m off the wall to make sure I am seen, but please know that I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD. 

Family Ties

“What goes on in this house, stays in this house.” Yes, but can we talk about it?  Imagine the power we’d have to overcome generational trauma if we just talked to each other, if we listen to the challenges our youth are facing and share our lived experiences. This ad shows the power of family when caregivers sit down and hear whatever the young-person in their life has to say. This is about family being open enough to share their troubles and their togetherness in understanding I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD.

Everyone’s Messy

My room is a mess, but everyone’s messy, right?!  This is my safe space because this is how I feel inside, so I keep everyone else outside.  Sarah’s my only friend, the only one I can trust…she knows who really lives behind the closed door, and she knows I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD.

So, So Steezy

Making mental health look stylish is easy. When you know better, you must do better.

Be a trendsetter. Take care of yourself and shout out….

I AM MORE THAN MY MOOD. 

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