Growing demand for content related to mental health awareness first came onto our radar in early 2019. If you look at what's been happening in American media, the demand makes sense. Public conversation about mental health awareness experienced some positive strides this past year and it doesn't seem like that will change as we move into 2020. A strong movement to de-stigmatize mental illnesses and treatment is underway and playing out on the public stage.
Erasing the Stigma
Mental health topics have experienced a huge jump of 40% growth in search volume overall. On Storyblocks Video, searches for meditation are up 93%, addiction are up 75%, help are up 66%, depression are up 30% and recovery are up 20%-and that doesn't even cover the more specific searches related to these topics.
Prominent pop culture icons, politicians and media figures have been opening up about their personal relationships with mental health, inspiring the general public (particularly younger generations) to do the same. Recently, SoulPancake and Funny or Die partnered to produce Laughing Matters a documentary-short detailing the struggle with mental health many comedians experience. The doc features high-profile comedians and actors like Rainn Wilson, Sarah Silvermana and Wayne Brady, to name a few. Many of these popular figures have, until now, mostly kept their struggles out of the public eye.
With topics like addiction and recovery, the national opioid crisis remains in the national spotlight, being covered in documentaries, news, and even political campaigns. It played a large role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election discourse and will undoubtedly be a part of the 2020 elections as policies and remedies continue to be discussed. The current democratic candidates have all shared their positions and proposals to date.
The Relationship with Social Media
Although mental health awareness is being covered in a variety of media platforms from news to podcasts to advertising, we predict that social media will play a major role in elevating the conversation in 2020. Social campaigns like #worldmentalhealthday have dominated Twitter, Instagram, and more with posts about awareness, personal stories, and more.
Being that mental health is such a personal experience, it's not surprising to see that social platforms are where the trend is rising. Within the creator community, there is a growing movement to acknowledge the burnout and mental stress that influencers like YouTube stars experience. It was an alarmingly dominant topic at this year's annual VidCon convention.
Stock Media's Role
As mental health awareness becomes a bigger topical focus and is featured widely in the media, we need to talk about the importance of authenticity in mental health imagery. The subject is particularly difficult to represent visually.
For example, mental health conditions and illnesses are complex and there isn't a singular face or expression that represents each one. However, we should strive to shift away from representing depression with an over-exaggerated frown, or recovery with yoga on the beach. The stock media industry has a role to play here, and all content creators have an opportunity to help shape public discourse through the visual representations used. The more effort that's put into learning about the nuances of mental health and utilizing authentic imagery, the more we can de-stigmatize mental illnesses and help further the conversation.
The Future of Mental Health Conversations We hope that mental health awareness isn't a passing trend, but the start of a movement to normalize open discussion about mental health and end the stigma. It will be one of the most important topics to follow in 2020 and one we'd like to see continually grow.
See all the creative trends for the coming year in our 2020 Trends Guide
Tell Your Story
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
Growing demand for content related to mental health awareness first came onto our radar in early 2019. If you look at what's been happening in American media, the demand makes sense. Public conversation about mental health awareness experienced some positive strides this past year and it doesn't seem like that will change as we move into 2020. A strong movement to de-stigmatize mental illnesses and treatment is underway and playing out on the public stage. 
