19 Must-Follow Mental Health Influencers on Instagram!
That promise to inspire, motivate, and educate
The number of mental health influencers on Instagram focused on positivity and understanding is truly impressive. However, it can be tough to know where to start. Luckily, we’ve got you covered! We’ve compiled a list of the top 19 Instagram profiles that truly stand out for their genuine content, interaction, and diverse perspectives on mental health. This list is perfect for anyone starting their own mental health journey or supporting a loved one. It’s a reliable, uplifting, and incredibly helpful resource in the vast ocean of Instagram information. So let’s dive in and explore these amazing accounts that promise to inspire, motivate, and educate your daily feed.
Criteria for Selection
Only a select few made it to the top Instagram mental health accounts list, based on specific criteria. The primary criteria for selection were:
- Follower count: 10K+
- Frequency of posts: Weekly, at minimum
- Content quality: We’re after visually appealing graphics and video content.
- Credibility: In the accounts related to specific mental health conditions, the content is produced by experts in their field. We looked for both credentials and their authority in the mental health space.
There are plenty of mental health influencers out there on the platform, however, it’s wise to be selective about which voices and types of content you give your time to.
Best All-Round Mental Health Resource
@psych_today
Bio
- Follow count: 697k
- Psychology Today
- Insights about everybody’s favorite subject: ourselves.
What We Love
Psychology Today’s posts are always well organized and easy to digest. Being the reputable editorial that it is, you can rest assured knowing that the information has been expert-vetted.
Why You Should Follow
The account really has something for everyone. It’s also professional and reliable for frequent tidbits about mental health and actionable tips.
Best for Awareness & Activism
@mentalhealthamerica
Bio
- Follower Count: 251k
- Dedicated to mental health, well-being, and illness prevention.
- For crisis support: Call or Text 988 or Chat 988lifeline.org, Text MHA to 741741
What We Love
Mental Health America is a nonprofit organization, so MHA is associated with doing good for the country’s mental well-being. There is also a focus on youth mental health for parents, caregivers, and teachers. They promote inclusivity and share relevant information for all in the diverse US.
Why You Should Follow
Since it is a large organization, they showcase good insights and resources for all things mental health. Also, they are pretty good about mental health awareness posts and update followers on opportunities for activism.
Best for Self Love
@vexking
Bio
- Follower Count: 1.4M
- Author
- No. 1 Sunday Times Bestselling Author
- Co-founder @therisingcircle
What We Love
The posts are very consistent if you’re looking for daily bits of inspiration that are all meaningful and well-worded.
Why You Should Follow
Vex King is a bit of a legend in the self-help world considering he’s written numerous books on the topic. He knows what works for self-improvement. Though some struggle more than others, it can be difficult to cultivate self-love. Little daily reminders via Instagram is a great way to ease into it though.
Best for highlighting men’s mental health
@humenorg
Bio
- Follower count: 46.7K
- Preventing men from suffering in silence and dying too young #PreventionBeforeCrisis
- Creators of the world’s first uni mental health league table
What We Love
Based out of the UK, Humen is bringing awareness to specific mental health challenges faced by men. They utilize quotes from notable male figures like Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis above to really drive home the message that men suffer too. It’s just not as openly talked about.
Why You Should Follow
Unfortunately, there are not as many male-focused mental health instagram accounts out there. Even female readers can benefit from Humen’s content to garner insight into how to support the men in their life.
Best for Emotional Intelligence
– @yung_pueblo
Bio
- Follower Count: 2.7M
- Diego Perez
- Meditator
- #1 NYT Bestselling Author
- New Book: The Way Forward
- Co-Founder @wisdomadventures
What We Love
You could say this account is targeted for millennials. Posts are short, simple, and honest words of wisdom that we all need to hear from time to time.
Why You Should Follow
Perez travels around the world speaking at engagements and promoting his books. He’s a major influencer for advice regarding relationships, self-awareness and self-confidence.
Best for Boundaries & Relationships
@nedratawwab
Bio
- Follower count: 1.8M
- Nedra Glover Tawwab, Therapist
- she/her
- Author
- 2x NYT Bestselling Author, Licensed Therapist, Relationship & Boundaries Expert #nedranuggets
What We Love
This account is educational, yes, but it also provides actionable communication skills and scripts to help people feel confident when communicating.
Why You Should Follow
If you struggle setting boundaries in relationships (who doesn’t, really), this account is for you.
Best Bilingual
– @dr.marielbuque
Bio
- Follower Count: 260K
- Dr. Mariel Buque
- she/her
- Columbia University Psych Ph.D. & Author
- Trauma Psychologist
- Healing & Book @breakthecycleoftrauma
- Espanol @drmarielbuque_enespanol
What We Love
The account boasts a nice mix of graphics and videos. For Spanish speakers, it’s great that she has nearly identical content on her Spanish page.
Why You Should Follow
Dr. Buque is the author of “Break the Cycle of Trauma and hosts a podcast called “Growing Up Latina,” so she has a very unique perspective to bring to her followers. Another thing we love about her feed is the therapy tea sessions. Sometimes she endearingly refers to them as “hot tea” for extra spicy topics.
Best for Meditation & Stress Relief
@michaeljameswong
Bio
- Follower Count: 22.5K
- Author – Speaker – Educator – Meditator
- Helping you prioritise your mind and mental health
- Founder @justbreathe
What We Love
The content includes a lot of videos and even ones to follow along to with breathing exercises and techniques.
Why You Should Follow
Wong is an avid yogi, wellness influencer, and speaks at events, so it’s a nice account to follow along with. He is also the founder of an online/hybrid community, Just Breathe, for those that are looking for more engagement.
Best for Therapeutic Humor
– @theofficialsadghostclub
Bio
- Follower Count: 618K
- The Sad Ghost’s Sad Ghost Club. A club for everyone. Raising positive mental health awareness through comics and community.
What We Love
The posts are frequent and always unique. Furthermore, we’re all about expressing difficult emotions through art. While mental health is a serious topic, sometimes it’s good to make light of darker situations.
Why You Should Follow
The main character of the comics, the sad ghost, makes you feel okay about not being okay.
Best for Therapy Insights
@drjulie
Bio
- Follower Count: 1.6M
- Dr Julie Smith | Clinical Psychologist | No. 1 Bestselling Author
- Sharing life changing insights from therapy
- New book – Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
What We Love
Dr. Julie shares mostly all video content and usually has helpful visual aids, so the information is very easy to digest.
Why You Should Follow
It can really help you understand what goes on during therapy and may encourage some to seek professional therapy if there is a need. Dr. Julie is an expert in this space, so you can feel confident the information is accurate.
Best for Uplifting Artwork
@thelatestkate
Bio
- Follower Count: 185K
- Art
- Artist, Anxious person, creator of Thera-pets
- thelatestkate@gmail.com
What We Love
Of all the mental health instagram accounts, this one is perhaps the most “feel-good” on your feed. Kate’s account boasts cute and lighthearted visuals on a regular basis to brighten your days. We could all use a serotonin boost here and there, right?
Why You Should Follow
Hand-drawn art should be appreciated, and it’s even better that the playful images come with important messages.
Best for Nutrition & Mental Health
@drumanaidoo
Bio
- Follower Count: 124K
- MD/Food Mood Chef @harvardmed
- Nutritional Psychiatry Pioneer
- International Best Seller #ThisIsYourBrainOnFood
What We Love
As mentioned in her bio, Dr. Naidoo is pioneering the field of nutritional psychiatry and is helping to spread the word about the connection between food and mood, and even for the prevention of more serious mental health conditions.
Why You Should Follow
Anyone can benefit from healthy diet tips, so why not do it for you mental health. This is a great account for those looking for more evidence-based topics and science-y content. It’s interesting stuff!
Best for Adult ADHD
@thepsychdoctormd
Bio
- Follower Count: 459K
- Sasha Hamdani, MD
- Board Certified Psychiatrist
- Media expert, no med advice
- Author of Self-Care for people with ADHD and creator of @thefocusgenie
What We Love
Dr. Hamdani posts are entertaining and relatable videos about living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She is a licensed psychiatrist and is associated with the app The Focus Genie.
Why You Should Follow
For those with ADHD, or even those without, this account can feel very relatable. No one can be a true social media therapist, but if that job did exist, I’d want her to be mine.
Best for PTSD
@stillbloomingme
Bio
- Follower Count: 12K
- My name is Elena and I’m sharing my life with PTSD as a Boston Marathon bombing survivor. I’m growing, healing, and blooming every day.
- Contributor @cnbc
What We Love
As mentioned above, Elena suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after surviving the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. There aren’t many big accounts ou there discussing PTSD, so we’re happy Elena is sharing her trials and tribulations.
Why You Should Follow
PTSD isn’t talked about so much, it’s normally associated with war veterans, so this account comes from a different perspective to help those who have suffered trauma or who want to learn more about how to help others with PTSD.
Best for Postpartum Depression
@thebalanceafterbaby
Bio
- Follower Count: 74.3K
- Chelsea | Postpartum Motherhood
- she/her
- Postpartum & motherhood support
- Occupational therapist MS, OTR/L
What We Love
We love the light that has been shone on the importance of maternal mental health and postpartum depression (PPD). She also has product recommendations and a podcast associated with her account.
Why You Should Follow
Chelsea’s posts appear very relatable, and sometimes funny, to new moms. Her posts bring a lighthearted rawness to the stressful balancing act of motherhood.
Best for Grief
@whatsyourgrief
Bio
- Follower Count: 64.5K
- #Grief community. Ugly cries, Netflix binges, laughter, research & creativity. Mental health professionals. Baltimore.
What We Love
It’s got good community vibes. Not every grieving person has people around who understand or that they can rely on. The account holders are also trained grief specialists, so they know what they’re talking about.
Why You Should Follow
It’s really important to have support when going through grief. Even if you are not going through grief, this is helpful stuff to try and understand what someone is going through if you have never experienced grief.
Best Faith-based
@cleerelystated
Bio
- Follower Count: 277K
- Speaker + Author + Podcaster of “Let’s Be Cleere”
- Books: Be Still, Focus, Radiate, The Miracle of You
What We Love
This account features the kind of content you want to share with others. It’s Faith-based, yes, but it perfectly intertwines the Bible’s teaching without feeling like you are being preached “at.”
Cleerely Stated also has associated books and products.
Why You Should Follow
Clearly an author, she is great with words. Even for those that don’t practice the Christian faith, the page features very uplifting and well thought-out content.
Best for Financial Mindset
@mindmoneybalance
Bio
- Follower Count: 14.3K
- Lindsay Bryan Podvin | Financial Therapist | Speaker
- Therapist (she/her)
- Democratizing financial therapy to help you get your mind and $ in balance
What We Love
This page is in a niche but important area of mental health ran by a qualified financial therapist. Lindsay does really well with forming connections between money and mental health through her content.
Why You Should Follow
It’s no secret that money impacts our life and our mental health. There is a lot more to money than earning a paycheck and saving. What determines the money decisions we make? Much of it is tied to our own individual experiences around money. On the other side of the coin is that financial stress or anxiety can take a real toll on mental well-being.
Best for Body Positivity
@marcelailustra
Bio
- Follower Count: 45.6K
- Marcela Sabia
- she/her/ela/dela
- Artist
- Brazilian illustrator
- Mental health and body positivity enthusiast
- Commissions are open
What We Love
Marcela uses raw honest depictions in her artwork to take a stand in support of body acceptance. She clearly has talent. Her illustrations are a nice change up from your typical content.
Why You Should Follow
We love to support artists around here, and in turn, it’s supporting non-traditional art that makes people feel proud of their bodies and even their “flaws.”
Conclusion
Give these accounts a follow and share this list to anyone who needs some daily inspiration or specific support for their mental health. However, just because social media can provide you with self-help tools, doesn’t mean you should only use self-help for managing mental health conditions. All of these accounts were created for educational or entertainment purposes and their content shouldn’t be used as medical advice or for diagnosing mental illness. If you are suffering, you don’t have to do it alone. Seek a qualified mental health practitioner or a convenient online mental health program, and together you can develop a plan to move forward with a fulfilling life, no matter the situation.
Author: Joel Duncan
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023
