2025 Messaging Awards
Every year, as part of the Directing Change Film Contest, Youth Creating Change celebrates shows, films, and individuals promoting outstanding messaging around mental health and suicide prevention. Our aim is to recognize content and creators that do an exemplary job of elevating conversations about mental health and suicide prevention, driven by the conviction that celebrating incredible storytelling and public advocacy is worthwhile and can have a positive influence on audiences – inspiring them to improve their own self-care, reach out for help, support others, and spread awareness.
The Directing Change Film Contest engages students and young people throughout California to educate them on the topics of suicide prevention and mental health. By participating in the program, youth learn about mental health and suicide warning signs, as well as how to help themselves and those around them who might be struggling; and the short films and art youth create for the program are used to support further education and awareness in both schools and communities.
Much like the unique voices of youth, stories are a powerful tool for elevating conversations around critical health topics, changing norms, challenging harmful perceptions, inspiring action toward more inclusive environments, and helping us all feel less alone.
Our 2025 Messaging Awards honorees have gone the extra mile, crafting shows, films, and messages that encourage viewers to imagine a future where mental health is no longer stigmatized, foster cultures of help-seeking and acceptance, and offer an open ear to those around them.
2025 Awards:
Mental Health Advocacy – Megan Thee Stallion
Mental Health Advocacy – Doechii
Mental Health Advocacy – Simone Biles
Mental Health Messaging (Film) – Turtles All the Way Down
Mental Health Messaging (Film) – Inside Out 2
Mental Health Messaging (Series) – Heartstopper
Mental Health Messaging (Series) – The Sex Lives of College Girls
Mental Health Messaging (Short Films Series) – CalHOPE School Animated Shorts from DCHS
Below is some of our thinking behind these awards – aspects of these stories and advocates that impressed us, areas where their messaging is especially strong, and places where creators helped set an improved standard for depictions of mental health challenges and topics.
Megan Thee Stallion
Award: Mental Health Advocacy
An award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter, Megan Thee Stallion has repeatedly used her visibility to bring attention to mental health, encourage others to be open about their challenges and find support, and spread awareness of life-saving resources. She has spoken about her personal struggles with depression, anxiety, and surviving domestic violence, and her website includes links to mental health information, support services, and organizations (including those specializing in helping people of color). In 2023, Megan participated in a PSA for Seize the Awkward (a campaign about the importance of having conversations around mental health); more recently, she also partnered with the California Department of Public Health in support of the Never a Bother youth suicide prevention campaign – using her voice to further destigmatize mental health while spreading the word about the campaign and the importance of reaching out for help. In honoring Megan, we also want to shine a light on her 2024 documentary, Megan Thee Stallion: in Her Words, which sheds a light on her personal journeys with fame, grief, and the pressures of success.
Doechii
Award: Mental Health Advocacy
Winner of the 2025 Grammy for Best Rap Album, Doechii first came to prominence through posts on TikTok. Now in the national spotlight, she is using her music and fame to call attention to the importance of mental health by opening up about her personal journey with anxiety, as well as past struggles with bullying and suicidal thoughts. Launched in conjunction with her hit single “Anxiety” (the lyrics of which work to normalize conversations about the condition), Doechii’s online mental health hub, “Anxiety is Watching Me,” is also spreading hope, encouraging connection, and increasing awareness. Inspired by Doechii’s life and art alike, the website shares a range of mental health resources and links to creative communities – including those designed specifically for LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color – and includes a space where users from all across the world can share tools, experiences, and coping mechanisms that have helped them with their own anxiety.
Simone Biles
Award: Mental Health Advocacy
The most decorated American gymnast in history and a Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, Simone Biles continually defies expectations and has worked to remind our culture that even highly successful individuals can struggle with mental health. In 2018, Biles came forward as one of more than 100 women who were abused by former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar, and she has been open about her battles with trauma, anxiety, and depression, as well the personal benefits she has experienced from therapy. After withdrawing from events at the 2020 Olympics to prioritize her physical safety and mental health, Biles has continually used her platform to advocate for the destigmatization of mental health and self-care while performing at the highest level in her sport. Additionally, her 2024 documentary series, Simone Biles Rising, offers an inspiring look into both her mental health challenges and her resilience.
Turtles All the Way Down (2024)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Film)
Turtles All the Way Down is a romantic drama based on the novel by John Green. Directed by Hannah Marks, the film stars Isabel Merced and follows Aza, a teenager with OCD, as she is drawn into a mystery involving a fugitive billionaire. The film also shows Aza navigating relationships and the possibility of finding love as a young person living with a mental illness. Our team was especially impressed with how the film openly addresses OCD and its treatment (including destigmatization of medication and showing the impacts of intrusive thoughts). We also appreciated the film’s portrayal of therapy, its reminders that relationship and healing both require work – and that recovery doesn’t happen overnight – and the way it encourages those with OCD to be vulnerable with those around them while seeking the support they need to flourish.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Film)
Directed by Kelsey Mann, Pixar’s Inside Out uses the magic of animation to represent a young girl’s emotions as distinct characters inside her head, with the film telling the story of those emotions as she adapts to life as a teenager. With its lively, engaging depiction of different emotions, the film can be used as a conversation starter for parents and children of all ages as they explore what mental health means and how to navigate the full spectrum of emotions. We were also impressed by the film’s realistic depiction of an anxiety attack, as well as the way it shows that anxiety can manifest differently in different people. Inside Out 2 also avoids villainizing any one emotion while addressing the emotional complexity of being a teenager and calling attention to mental health challenges faced by youth.
Heartstopper (2022-2024)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Series)
While Youth Creating Change celebrates Heartstopper in full, this award calls special attention to the careful depiction of the character Charlie’s eating disorder in season 3.
Heartstopper is a British coming-of-age series created by Alice Oseman and centered around Charlie Spring, who falls in love with his classmate Nick Nelson. Starring Joe Locke and Kit Connor, the show has been praised for its presentation of LGBTQ+ characters and storylines, as well as challenges around self-discovery and coming of age. In choosing the show for this award, our team loved how it provides an educational and careful depiction of eating disorders in the LGBTQ community, which may help destigmatize the issue while portraying ways to get help. On top of that, we would also like to highlight how Heartstopper repeatedly models how to start conversations about mental health safely and with sensitivity in ways that can be replicated by youth, all the while showing the importance of getting help without oversimplifying the process of recovery.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021-2024)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Series)
Our award focuses on The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3, especially the season 3 finale, which features the culmination of a storyline centered on mental health as it pertains to student athletes.
Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, The Sex Lives of College Girls follows a group of college roommates as they navigate relationships and the challenges of early adulthood. The show features a diverse cast (helping those of all backgrounds see themselves in the series) and also stands out in its acknowledgement of the challenges and pressure often faced by student athletes and the negative impact they can have on mental health. In doing so, the show provides an inspiring example of young people from different backgrounds coming together and taking action in support of better mental health for both themselves and others, thereby reminding viewers of the positive change that can be achieved by youth. Additionally, The Sex Lives of College Girls addresses generational differences that impact stigma and conversations around mental health, showing the way a person’s attitude around such topics can improve for the better and encouraging youth to open up if they are struggling.
CalHOPE Schools Animated Shorts from DCHS (2023)
Award: Mental Health Messaging (Short Films Series)
CalHope Schools supports California schools, teachers, students, and families through no-cost, evidence-based resources to provide healing, hope, and inspiration. Their recent series of Animated Shorts from DCHS is available for free online in both English and Spanish, providing a valuable teaching tool to help spread awareness of positive coping skills. Importantly, these colorful shorts also encourage help-seeking and reaching out to friends for support during emotional and mental health challenges, demonstrate the importance of empathy, and remind young viewers that everyone deserves compassion and understanding.