On the 42nd floor of Hilton Midtown in New York, junior Alexa Rand waited anxiously for her dad to pour a cold bucket of hotel ice on her head. As the ice–conveniently without water–cascaded down onto her head, her smile quickly faded in bitter anticipation. One second, a shock of cold was sprinting through her veins, cooling her from the hot New York sun, and the next it was over.
She was participating in the reinvented Ice Bucket Challenge.
Influenced by the famed tradition of dumping Gatorade buckets on winning coaches, the Ice Bucket Challenge first went viral in 2014 to support research for ALS–which stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, significantly impairing motor function. It has no known cure.
To bring awareness to it, the challenge was simple: post yourself getting doused with ice water, then nominate your friends to participate or donate to the ALS Association—a national nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for ALS.
The viral Ice Bucket Challenge inspired worldwide participation and raised over $115 million for the ALS Association’s research.
This last march, the Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club at the University of South Carolina (USC) orchestrated the challenge’s return, focusing on mental health advocacy.
Millions of Americans struggle with diagnosed mental health issues every year; the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says over twenty percent of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021.
And those are simply diagnosed cases tracked through national health surveys and research studies. An unknown number of us face unseen mental health issues and still find courage to smile, laugh, and persevere each day.
Unfortunately, freedom to discuss those issues can seem limited. But MIND President Wade Jefferson, who founded the club after two of his close friends lost their lives to suicide, is determined to destigmatize conversation about mental health, and has been since 2024.
When the club launched #SpeakYourMIND, they intended to raise a couple hundred dollars for Active Minds—a non-profit founded by Alison Malmon in 2003 dedicated to mental health awareness in young-adults.
So for the second time since 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge surfed the internet. Just a few weeks after the launch, USC MIND raised $240,000 towards their goal of $250,000, according to a post on USC’s website in April.
#SpeakYourMIND made it to national news, where co-host of the fourth hour of NBC’s Today show, Jenna Bush Hager, participated and nominated her co-anchors.
Since the Ice Bucket Challenge resurfaced, USC MIND has gained over 800,000 followers on Instagram and raised just under half a million for Active Minds—who has now joined forces with the ALS Association to increase donations.
Thousands who struggle with mental health issues can sympathize with the noble pursuit of #SpeakYourMIND: to destigmatize mental health. And overwhelming participation in the challenge encourages them to share their story.
Junior and mental health advocate Megan Smith appreciated the challenge’s message:
“I think the challenge was good for awareness because it brought mental health into conversations. Whether people liked it or not, they were still talking about mental health,” Smith said.
Sadly, some participants still have little clue why the challenge began.
“I didn’t know what it was before, and if people didn’t realize why they were doing it, then they just saw it as a fun challenge. But I think it’s more than that,” sophomore Eden Ranola explained.
Like Ranola said, #SpeakYourMIND is meant to be more. While it is an entertaining and competitive challenge for all, it’s primarily meant to support struggling minds. And if participants aren’t aware of that, then it loses its meaning.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think most people were doing the challenge for awareness. It was mainly because their friends were doing it, and it sucks that mental health awareness wasn’t on the top of some people’s minds when doing it,” Smith said.
Sophomore Peyton Davis, who runs a podcast on mental health awareness called Catharsis, argued misconceptions of the challenge’s purpose could’ve been solved with a few changes:
“The challenge could have told people to talk about a personal experience with mental health, say their support system, or their best self care tip, and then do the challenge,” Davis said.
Some participants, especially celebrities with established platforms or dedicated advocates like Davis, purposely provided resources in their posts to mental health related organizations. But others were limited to smaller platforms.
According to Davis, USC MIND “could have collaborated with an organization like The Happiness Project or the Trevor Project to bring awareness.”
The Happiness Project, an concept launched by author Gretchen Rubin after her breakout book–The Happiness Project–became a New York Times #1 Bestseller, encourages people to start their own personal happiness toolkit.
Personalized organizations like The Happiness Project could have been a unique pairing with the #SpeakYourMIND challenge and promoted each participant to advocate for their mental health in tagged posts.
But participants continued to support mental health awareness in more shallow ways.
“I’m very vulnerable on my podcast. And it’s still vulnerable to pour ice on yourself, but it’s more entertaining than it is informational. So on my podcast I try to synthesize multiple sources and talk about multiple different things instead of just saying that it is for mental health,” Davis said.
With a lack of genuine mental health advocacy, school nurse Kim Laux questioned how #SpeakYourMIND remained popular:
“I think that it may only have achieved anything because people are doing the challenge,” Laux said.
Smith argued that for participation in #SpeakYourMIND to maintain its purpose, it should be intentional:
“My culture is not your costume. I hate when people do stuff for performative reasons. Even though I did participate, it was definitely performative, because if I hadn’t been nominated, I don’t think I would have participated,” Smith said.
Ranola agreed:
“It’s beneficial when people have the intention to spread awareness. But if people have the intention just to do what everyone else is doing without any substance, I don’t think it’s as helpful,” Ranola said.
Like Davis mentioned, the meaning of #SpeakYourMIND would be further expanded by prolonged conversation about mental illness—along with posts and donations.
“If people pay attention to what the challenge is for, then I think it’s gonna bring awareness and get people that have a mental illness to see it and feel more accepted.,” Laux said.
Raising further awareness—giving those who struggle with mental health a platform and a voice—can be easy; like USC MIND emphasized, we need to open the conversation about mental health in our personal lives.
“Just straight up talking about mental health is what’s gonna make a difference. My friends and I don’t shy away from it just because it’s difficult. And I think talking about mental health in more places is what’s going to get people to actually be comfortable opening up to it,” Smith said.
It’s important to recognize that #SpeakYourMIND and social media, while helpful to stimulating mental health awareness, can’t function as a healthy support system.
Don’t be afraid to speak out and find a support system that works for you.
