LGBT celebrities campaign for #MHAW17 (and the pictures are so moving)

Earlier this year, Amelia-Eve Warden was on the tube when she spotted an ad campaign showing a man with his heads in his hands. The campaign was for mental health. Feeling that this ‘headclutcher’ photo – one so often used to depict depression and anxiety, both of which Amelia suffers with – wasn’t an accurate representation of mental health, she decided to do something about it.

Sam Pritchard

So, for Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, Amelia has launched a campaign to raise real awareness of mental health, particularly in the LGBT community, and highlight the importance of speaking out.

Titled ‘Too Wild To Live’, the campaign shows five UK LGBT celebrities in a very raw, moving photoshoot. The campaign takes its name from a quote by lesbian supermodel Gia Carangi – “too beautiful to die, too wild to live” – the first female supermodel in the 1970s, and the first woman to die of AIDs.

“We have always been incredibly passionate about raising awareness in the LGBT community,” says Amelia, who is CEO of a public relations company. “As a person that suffers from mental health problems on a daily basis, I feel this project particularly lies very close to my heart.”

The celebrities in the campaign are former Blue member and Hollyoaks actor Duncan James, Pink tribute act Laura Tapp, Black Out LDN director Kayza Rose, model Sammy Mceleny and trans musician Chaune King (formerly known as Mz Fontaine).

Duncan suffers from depression, Laura has ADHD, Kayza Rose’s sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Sammy has anxiety, and Chaune has suffered with addiction.

"My best friend also suffers with mental health issues," says Duncan James. "Being around someone you care and love for, seeing the struggles and battles that they continuously face, and seeing it firsthand, can be a traumatic experience for everyone involved. Finding new ways to fund care, treatments and address ways to help these issues is crucial to giving mental health the kick it needs."

Laura was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 30-years-old. "My anxiety was through the roof and I couldn’t understand why it was so hard for me to focus," she says. "I always felt like I had to work twice as hard to get to where I wanted to be."

Scroll down to see the moving campaign photos, or read more about mental health this #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek...