*Standard rates may apply. For participation from Canada or from phones that can’t use short codes, use 7785887995. Text, Talk, Act does not share your personal information.

Mental health is one of the hardest topics to bring up – but discussing it is one of the most important conversations most people can have. And given that three-fourths of all mental health problems begin between the ages of 14 and 24, young people desperately need to have this conversation. Now there’s a fun and innovative way to get young people talking about mental health: Text, Talk, Act.

Text, Talk, Act uses text messaging to facilitate a face-to-face conversation on mental health. Now through the end of June, participants can gather in small groups (3-4 people) with one cell phone per group. Text START to the number 89800 to receive a series of text messages that guides your group through a conversation on mental health: why it is important, how to care for it, and how to help a friend in need. The text messages include videos, social media interactions, polling questions and discussion questions.

Some questions invite participants to text in ideas for how individuals and communities can improve mental health. The aggregated anonymous data can be made available to schools and communities. As the conversation comes to an end, participants receive links to resources to continue the conversation and/or seek help. We know that silence on mental health costs each of us, sometimes even our own lives or the lives of our friends.

Previous participants have found that Text, Talk, Act is fun, flexible, easy, convenient, and leads to meaningful conversations that build peer understanding and support. Over 90% of respondents to follow-up surveys report an increase in understanding and over 65% of survey respondents report an increase in their level of comfort in talking about mental health.

Click here for more information on Text, Talk, Act.

This initiative is powered by Creating Community Solutions, the National Institute for Civil Discourse, Everyday Democracy and the Deliberative Democracy Coalition.
Official partners of Text, Talk, Act include Active Minds, National Association of School Psychologists, Entertainment Industry Council, Populove and the American Association of Suicidology.
Promotional partners of Text, Talk, Act are Born This Way Foundation, Youth M.O.V.E. National, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Jed Foundation, Mental Health America, Public Conversations Project, Crisis Response Network, National Campus Leadership Council, La Frontera Arizona and Crisis Text Line.