We greatly appreciate the personal stories sent to Active Minds

Rooted in a dynamic story-sharing format displayed through mixed mediums, Send Silence Packing (SSP) is an immersive experience that illustrates the stories and centers the voices of youth as they guide us through their mental health journeys to end the silence surrounding mental health stigmas.

With this mission in mind, we welcome stories about hope and recovery to share through one of several different platform; such as accompanying a backpack in the Send Silence Packing® exhibit, featured in the digital experience Behind the Backpacks, or as a video created on Soapboxx® to be shared on your social media. While many of the stories we tell come from friends and family members who have survived the loss of a loved one or from those who have survived suicide attempts and struggles with their own mental health, Active Minds also has an interest in highlighting stories that elevate the importance of validating each other’s experiences, practicing community care, and advocating for meaningful change. 

While all feelings are natural and valid, Active Minds aims to highlight messages of hope and help-seeking. Our goal is to ensure that each visitor leaves a story with the validation, inspiration, and education to cultivate deeper connections in their communities.  We work very closely with each story-teller to ensure that the story-teller is happy with the final outcome and that it supports our chief goal of lasting culture change around mental health.

Interested in telling your story or sharing words of support? We have two easy ways to do so:

SHARE THROUGH SOAPBOXX - Our Online Storytelling Platform

Prefer to record your story or share a positive message as a video? It is easy through Soapboxx:

1. Choose a Category and Question to Answer

2. Record Your Video

3. Follow the Prompts

4. Save Your Video and Share to Your Social Media

SHARE ON A BACKPACK OR THE BEHIND THE BACKPACKS ONLINE EXPERIENCE

The stories showcased on the Send Silence Packing Exhibit feature messages of Loss, Survival, Resilience, Hope, and Help-Seeking. Read through the Story Guidelines first before putting your story together and then submit your story through the form linked to the button below.

We work very closely with each storyteller to ensure that they are happy with the outcome and that it supports our chief goal of lasting culture change around mental health.

For more information around how to best tell your story, feel free to review the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s Storytelling for Suicide Prevention Checklist.

Story Submission Portal

For questions and assistance, reach out to the Send Silence Packing team at sendsilencepacking@activeminds.org