Selena Gomez is using her platform and businesses to support mental health organizations—and make the conversation about mental health healthier all around as Mental Health Awareness Month kicks off this month.
Gomez announced yesterday on Instagram that she’s launching a campaign called “Your Words Matter” to raise awareness around the words people use when discussing mental health—and how casually joking about mental illness can stigmatize or belittle people living with the conditions.
“Words can be a barrier to people seeking help and increase the stigma associated with mental health,” Gomez wrote in a Notes screenshot shared to her Instagram. “Many of these words have been normalized and accepted for far too long, and it’s time we bring awareness to the words we use...because they matter.”
“I’m proud to kick off Your Words Matter, our Rare Impact by Rare Beauty x Mental Health First Aid educational campaign on how to talk about mental health. Even in my own TikTok video [where Gomez joked about being a psycho, when a psycho is actually someone diagnosed with psychosis, not slang for not feeling like yourself], I now realize that my words matter and can have a powerful impact. Just like all of you, I’m learning every day. We may slip up, and that’s okay, what’s important is that we try to do better and give ourselves compassion.”
Gomez’s makeup business Rare Beauty will also continue to raise money for her Rare Impact Fund, which seeks to expand mental health services for young people in schools and educational settings. (One percent of all Rare Beauty sales go toward the fund already.) The beauty line is also releasing a limited-edition crewneck sweater, available starting today, to celebrate the new campaign. One hundred percent of its net proceeds will benefit the Rare Impact Fund.
Serendipity Brands, co-owned by Gomez, will also be donating $1 from every ice cream pint sold to the Rare Impact Fund this month.
You can buy Serendipity ice cream here.
And you can shop the limited-edition Rare Beauty crewneck below:
