Do you ever feel that your Instagram feed is full of unrealistic lifestyles and toxic positivity? With a few ‘unfollows’, and a search for lifelike accounts you can be empowered and uplifted. Do it! Because we want your scrolling time to be worth it.

A simple task as curating an Instagram account could be all you need to ease anxiety, change your perspective, and better understand the many complexities involved in mental health. Although conversations about mental health are gradually opening up in real life and social media, there is still a lot to be done.

We prepared a list of courageous women, who are mental health advocates that everyone should follow on Instagram. They are breaking down stigmas around mental health conditions, encouraging self-love and reassuring everyone that all people deal with hardships in their own unique ways.

Joanna Konstantopoulou

Joanna Konstantopoulou, a London Psychologist and award-winning Psychologist, specializes in the interplay of mental and physical health. She shares super-accessible tips and tricks on how to self-care and love yourself when you have a chronic illness.

These simple actions of taking care of your body and mind will ensure that low moods don’t last too long, which can lead to worse mental health issues down the line.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is an iconic woman, but if she hasn’t already been following you on Instagram, you should. She’s an influential and powerful advocate for mental health. Lady Gaga, the founder of Born This Way Foundation is passionate about raising awareness for the mental health crisis, as well as empowering young people to make a better, more compassionate world.

Her Instagram feed shows how she lives her life. She isn’t ashamed to share the highlights as well as the low-lights.

Achea Redd

Achea Redd is the most fearless advocate for female mental health in fearless women. Achea Redd is the wife of NBA star Michael Redd and the founder of Real Girls F.A.R.T. Achea is committed to helping women become fearless, authentic rescuers, and trailblazers.

Achea was a victim of eating disorders as a child and was later diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder and depression in 2016. She felt ashamed and tried to hide her condition until she suffered a complete breakdown. After recovering, Achea decided to eliminate the stigma surrounding seeking mental health care, particularly as a woman of colour.

Her profile is a lovely mix of motivational quotes and mental health tips. She also shares some personal stories about her experiences with her condition. Your feed will be full of valuable and inspiring content.

Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur is well-known for her poetry collection. You’ll also know that she deeply dives into her personal experience with trauma and mental illness in each of her books. She also shares some of her poems via social media.

Even though she self-published her first two poetry collections, Milk and Honey and the Sun and Her Flowers, which were very well received, she still struggled with anxiety and experienced imposter syndrome. She is a shining example of how even people who appear to have it all may be struggling with their inner issues.

We recommend that you read her new poetry collection Home Body if you are inspired by the things she posts on Instagram.

Esme Weijun Wang

Esme Weijun Wang’s playful personality and open-minded feed are refreshing on social media. Taiwanese-American writer Esme Weijun Wang shares her experiences with Lyme disease and schizoaffective disorder on Instagram. Also, her essay collection, The Collected schizophrenias, which is a New York Times bestseller, is available for purchase.

She is not a sugarcoater of her mental illness and is an example of resilience. She embraces her mental illness journey because she believes it shouldn’t be “inhibiting creativity”.

You will love her quirky posts and unique ideas.

Sara-Jayne Poletti

Sara-Jayne Poletti’s warm and encouraging social posts will help you regain your vulnerability. Sara-Jayne was diagnosed with depression, Generalized Anxiety disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. She now strives to make her presence on social media exactly what she needed.

She’s currently on a break from social media, but you can still find tips and tricks in her older posts to help you decide if you should take a social detox.

Alexandra Elle

Alexandra Elle uses social media to promote self-care and acceptance. She doesn’t tell people what to do, but she encourages them to join her supportive community through her informative and empowering posts.

Alex is well-known for her simple affirmations written on post-it notes, which she shares across her Instagram feed. We love Alex’s Instagram posts. After the Rain is her memoir. It contains 15 lessons about how to overcome obstacles and build confidence.