Mental health awareness washed away by bucket

Seemingly shallow challenge or an important message for mental health? This question can easily be posed about the University of South Carolina (USC) Ice Bucket Challenge, a trend which has taken the internet by storm. The challenge originated from the University’s Mental Health Needs club back in March, which is when the SpeakYourMIND campaign was brought to the Instagram platform. The campaign seeks to raise awareness and funding for mental health resources. In order to officially take part in this effort, a participant must record themself pouring a bucket of ice water on themselves, nominate up to five others, and make a donation toward the fundraiser, the last step of which is often overlooked. 

The challenge is intended to bring attention to mental health, and began after a tragedy had occurred to a student attending the university. Oklahoman founder, Wade Jefferson, a junior at USC, founded the MIND club after his friends died by suicide. The reasoning behind the club’s challenge is heartfelt, and it is admirable that after such a traumatic event, Jefferson put so much effort into bringing the issue to light. However, many people don’t seem to be taking this seriously. Everyone has seen someone dumping water on their head online, but they often aren’t made aware of the reasons behind it. Some may not even know the purpose of this because most Instagram stories are only focusing on the challenge aspect of it, not explaining what the USC SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge really is. Few people take the time to make donations, do research, and educate others on the information regarding suicide prevention and mental wellness. 

According to Active Minds, a mental health and wellness organization, “lasting change can only happen when we prioritize mental health. The #SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge is a launching point for us all to proudly commit our support to changing how mental health is viewed and prioritized in society and supporting the young people leading this crucial movement.” This website had raised over $400,000 of their $500,000 goal since the commencement of the challenge, with new donations being sent in each day. While this is an incredible number, one can only imagine how much bigger it would be if people would actually take the time to research the trend, and donate more than a few freezing cold seconds of their time.

Furthermore, an issue that many are overlooking is that most participants only feel comfortable nominating those within their own friend group. Anyone who may not be popular enough to be nominated ends up feeling left out, which does not communicate mental wellness and concern at all. Outside of the senseless squabbles and the tedium of tethering social ties, some have opted for skipping the challenge altogether, either staying silent on the matter or reposting in protest to bring light to the real cause. The delineation between actually pulling back the veil and skipping out entirely does nothing in the grand scheme of the challenge’s purpose, with far fewer doing the former than the latter, ultimately hurting more than it’s helping. 

The differing issue the ice bucket challenge focuses on this year has sparked further disagreement. When the challenge was initially introduced in 2014, the focus was on raising awareness and funds to research amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Mayo Clinic provides further information about this under-acknowledged disease, stating that “ALS is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS causes loss of muscle control. The disease gets worse over time.” Since ALS is so debilitating and does not currently have a cure, some people believe it deserves more attention, and the new mental aspect of the challenge takes away from this disease. 

Even in 2014, many of the teens who are participating in today’s revamped challenge partook in it when it was for ALS as mere children. Similar to today, many of them weren’t aware of what it was for, assuming it was just a fun trend that their friends were doing. While this is perfectly acceptable for children, there’s no excuse why these same individuals--now as teenagers--aren’t taking the time to speak on what the challenge is truly for, thereby overshadowing its important message.

The ice bucket challenge provides more direct solutions when being done for ALS because up until this year, the challenge was always directly associated with the disease. Having a more specific goal for an organized effort such as this one is also more effective. Mental health contains a vast variety of disorders and diseases that may receive limited research and awareness under the umbrella term. Funding and educating can only make a significant change if the aim is focused.

Overall, the USC SpeakYourMIND Ice Bucket Challenge may be intended for a positive change, but it has many flaws that make it less impactful than how it was envisioned. In order for it to be more successful, all posts need to include resources to inform, nominations shouldn’t only be based on friend groups, more credit should be given to the previous challenge similar to this one, and there should be a more specific issue that is being focused on, such as specifying the challenge down to suicide awareness. One thing is for certain, though: when it comes to mental health, everyone deserves to be seen and heard.

by Samreen Chahal

Published May 19th, 2025

Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue VIII