Latest news with #SpeakYourMIND
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Business Standard
01-05-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
The Ice Bucket Challenge is back-this time, to fight a silent epidemic
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge, when our social media feeds were flooded with videos of people dumping buckets of ice water over their heads? It's making a comeback, with a new mission. In 2014, people dumped freezing water over their heads to raise awareness for a neurodegenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Now, in 2025, the viral sensation has returned, aiming to sensitise people about mental health issues. Why the Ice Bucket Challenge is trending again in 2025—for mental health The revival, dubbed the #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge, was initiated by Wade Jefferson, a junior at the University of South Carolina. After losing two friends to suicide, Jefferson partnered with USC's MIND (Mental Illness Needs Discussion) Club to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention among young people. The goal of the 2025 challenge is to destigmatise mental health issues and promote open conversations about mental wellbeing. Participants are encouraged to pour ice water over themselves, post the video on social media with the hashtag #SpeakYourMIND, and donate to Active Minds, a nonprofit focused on mental health education for youth. The challenge has quickly gained traction on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, with notable figures such as YouTuber and media personality Mr Beast, American football quarterback Peyton Manning, Carson Daly, and YouTuber and make-up artist James Charles among others joining in. The campaign has also seen widespread participation from students and young adults across the US. Our amazing School Psychologists and School Social Workers (and Mrs. Martinez) proudly completed the Speak Your Mind Ice Bucket Challenge ???? Mental health matters — and we're here for our students and community every step of the way. #SpeakYourMIND — MHHS_Counseling (@MHHS_Counseling) April 25, 2025 Deputy Eric Underwood, the School Resource Officer at Niwot High School, accepted the #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for mental health and support youth advocacy through Active Minds. After taking the plunge, he challenged school staff to complete their… — Boulder County Sheriff's Office (@BldrCOSheriff) April 29, 2025 Deputy Eric Underwood, the School Resource Officer at Niwot High School, accepted the #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for mental health and support youth advocacy through Active Minds. After taking the plunge, he challenged school staff to complete their… — Boulder County Sheriff's Office (@BldrCOSheriff) April 29, 2025 How the 2025 Ice Bucket Challenge supports youth mental health funding The 2025 campaign has so far raised over $394,413 in just a few days, and the aim is to raise $500,000, according to the official website of Active Minds How the original 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge compares to the 2025 version The original 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a massive success, raising approximately $220 million worldwide for ALS research, with $115 million going directly to the ALS Association. The campaign saw participation from over 17 million people globally. Mental health experts raise concerns about social performance activism While the resurgence of the challenge has been widely welcomed, concerns have been raised regarding the suitability of its format, particularly in the context of mental health advocacy. Critics note a fundamental contradiction in promoting awareness around mental health issues through a mechanism rooted in public nomination and social performance. Such a format, they argue, risks evolving into a popularity-driven exercise, where the act of nominating peers may inadvertently marginalise those who are left out, potentially exacerbating feelings of exclusion and isolation.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
After 11 years, social media's sensational 'Ice Bucket Challenge' is back. This time with a new purpose
The Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral campaign that raised millions for ALS research a decade ago, has returned with a new cause. College students, led by Wade Jefferson at the University of South Carolina, have revived the challenge to raise awareness about mental health. Using the hashtag #SpeakYourMIND, participants encourage donations to Active Minds, a nonprofit supporting mental health. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads ( Originally published on Apr 27, 2025 ) Is it deja vu or have we seen this trend before?It's not just you. The Ice Bucket Challenge , which took over social media a decade ago, has found new life thanks to a group of college students who copied the concept, in its entirety, to spread mental health awareness Here's what you need to original Ice Bucket Challenge, which grew out of other online fads but was popularized as an ALS fundraiser by activists Pat Quinn and Pete Frates, was a campaign that began in 2014 to raise awareness and help find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The challenge was simple: film yourself dumping a bucket of ice-filled water over your head. Post it and challenge friends to either donate $100 to ALS research within 24 hours or film their own watery video. (Many people opted for both.)In a shockingly big way. The videos took off online, inspiring people around the world to drench themselves in freezing water for the cause and to urge friends to do the same. Celebrities from Taylor Swift to LeBron James to Bill Gates participated. The campaign raised hundreds of millions of dollars and drew worldwide attention to the disease. It was a rare moment of true, organic virality on a global scale.A 2024 report by the group RTI, which was commissioned by the ALS Association, said there was "clear evidence" that the Ice Bucket Challenge had substantially accelerated ALS back. Wade Jefferson, a 21-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, said he was inspired by the success of the original Ice Bucket Challenge while trying to come up with an event for a mental health awareness club he founded on campus called MIND. (The name is an acronym Mental Illness Needs Discussion, which referenced a similarly-named club at his high school. He was motivated to start the club after losing two friends to suicide, he said.)This time, the challenge, using the hashtag #SpeakYourMIND, is intended to spread awareness about mental health. Participants are encouraged to make donations to Active Minds, a nonprofit that focuses on mental health and young Shane Beamer, the head football coach at the University of South Carolina, posted a video participating, Jefferson said he knew the challenge was gaining It's quite popular on Instagram stories, where people post videos encouraging their friends to Picado, 23, said her teenage sister, Sharon Frias, woke her up to ask her to dump ice water on the 15-year-old's head. The sisters, who live in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, filmed the video with Picado leaning out her bedroom window with a kitchen pot to soak her sister sitting below. (Picado said she remembered participating in the ALS challenge as a preteen a decade ago.)"I was waiting to be nominated because I saw friend after friend doing it," Frias said. "It seemed like a fun way to spread mental awareness. It's a good message."Former NFL players Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders have both participated this time around. (Manning also did the challenge in 2014.) Carson Daly, a host of "Today," dumped a bowl of ice water on Jenna Bush Hager in a segment this week. More celebrities will surely join in on the people online have pointed out the irony of a challenge spreading mental health awareness that is built upon having a friend to nominate you. It can feel a little like a popularity contest, some said."I didn't know if I should do it or not," said Sasha Steinke, a 16-year-old who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. "I was thinking of all the people that don't get nominated. It could feel like they're sort of left out and that, like, defeats the purpose of including people,"Still, she decided to participate, explaining she had experienced mental health struggles and was excited to see conversations about those all-too-common issues being are, though not quite like last time. The challenge had raised nearly $250,000 as of article originally appeared in The New York Times.
USA Today
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
What's the USC Ice Bucket Challenge? The viral video series, explained
What's the USC Ice Bucket Challenge? The viral video series, explained Welcome to FTW Explains: A guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have seen videos of people getting buckets of ice water dumped on their heads and had some deja vu, and also wondered what the heck is going on. That's OK! We're here to help. That's right, the viral ice bucket challenge is back, and this time, it's for a different cause. When I started seeing these videos go viral again, I wondered if it was 2014, when we wrote a whole bunch of posts about celebrities and athletes getting water dumped on them. But, nope! It's 2025! And it's back. Let's break down the whole thing: What is the Ice Bucket Challenge? It's simple. You turn on your phone to shoot a video and someone takes a bucket filled with ice and water and dumps it on your head. You then challenge other people to do it, and they do the same, and it goes on and on. Also, you include a link for donations on your social media post. Who started this version of the Ice Bucket Challenge? Back then, it was to bring awareness to ALS. This time, per USA TODAY: "The #SpeakYourMIND ice bucket challenge was created by students at the University of South Carolina's 'Mental Illness Needs Discussion' club, which first posted about the challenge on March 31." How much money has been raised thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge? Nearly $300,000 to Active Minds. Is there any controversy with this Ice Bucket Challenge? There have been discussions about how this is overshadowing the original cause, with the ALS Association posting this: I wouldn't call it a controversy, but there's discussion online.
Express Tribune
24-04-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
'Ice Bucket Challenge' trends again with a new focus on mental health, sparks backlash online
The Ice Bucket Challenge, once a global symbol of support for ALS research, has returned to social media more than a decade later with a new focus on mental health. Spearheaded by students from the University of South Carolina, the #SpeakYourMIND campaign repurposes the challenge to raise awareness and funds for Active Minds, a charity dedicated to youth mental health. Despite its intentions, the revival has sparked notable backlash online. Critics argue that the shift in focus from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to mental health overlooks the condition that brought the original campaign global recognition. One social media use expressed dismay: 'Saw someone on TikTok with ALS talk about how the ice bucket challenge was basically the only thing they had in the public consciousness.' Other users echoed the sentiment, labelling the trend disingenuous and opportunistic. A few netizens joked that the trend's comeback was a recession indicator and that they feel old having lived through two ice bucket challenges. Saw someone on tiktok with ALS talk about how the ice bucket challenge was basically the only thing they had in the public consciousness, and now they don't even have that. Made me really sad — Маделейн . (@normalmadeline) April 23, 2025 the most evil people ik doing this ice bucket challenge for mental health awareness… — ri 𝜗𝜚 #teamlydia (@sunroomrry) April 19, 2025 will I get jumped if I said everything about this new ice bucket challenge is disingenuous and annoying af — malakai (@sadgreenclover) April 24, 2025 ice bucket challenge returning is a recession indicator — gabrielle (@lovelieswaiting) April 23, 2025 Wade Jefferson, the USC student behind the MIND club, has maintained that the aim of the campaign is to improve normalisation and access to mental health resources. The ALS Association has publicly supported the new movement, stating: 'We are delighted to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge living in the form of a new activism.' Yet the online conversation reveals a divide between advocacy evolution and community recognition. Some fear that by shifting the message, the visibility of ALS—still a largely underfunded and misunderstood condition—may suffer. With over $100,000 already raised for mental health causes, the campaign's impact is clear, but the conversation around representation and ethical advocacy continues.
