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How the Internet's Sending Hope to People Recently Diagnosed With a Mental Illness

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If you’ve recently been diagnosed with a mental illness, the Internet has a few words for you. Twitter users are using the hashtag #IfJustDiagnosed to send messages of hope to people who have just been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Mental health advocate Rachel Griffin started the hashtag using her popular Twitter account, I’m Not Ashamed.

“A diagnosis can be quite a relief to get, because you realize what’s been going on with you has a name, others have struggled with it and that there are treatment options,” Griffin told The Mighty. “But I want people to know that a diagnosis doesn’t mean you’re not yourself anymore. It doesn’t mean the future is bleak. It doesn’t mean you’re damaged, defective or that something is inherently wrong with you.”

She hopes the hashtag will help connect people who’ve been recently diagnosed with a mental illness to their online community.

“I thought it would be a nice way for those who have recovered to say to those who are struggling what they wish they’d heard when they were first diagnosed,” Griffin said.

Here’s more from #IfJustDiagnosed:

What would you to say to someone who was recently diagnosed with a mental illness? Join the online movement, or tell us in the comments below.

Originally published: February 21, 2016
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