FAQ & Info

• Self-care matters. Self-care and wellness are two cornerstone principles of Take This and our outreach efforts. When streaming, especially long ones, please visibly practice self-care (e.g., taking breaks and eating) as a good example for your community.
• Validation matters. People will likely talk about their mental health when you are streaming for us. While you don’t have to engage them in prolonged conversations, please avoid language which dismisses or minimizes their struggles. Empathize (e.g., “That sounds like a lot right now.”), and then offer our mental health resource page.
• Language Matters. Our mental health and neurodevelopmental diagnoses do not define people positively or negatively, but how we talk about them can subtly communicate our attitudes towards others. While most of the time, we want to avoid identifying or labeling a person as a diagnosis or using mental health terms as adjectives, we also want to follow people’s lead and use the language that they use.
  • Example: “People with mental health challenges.” vs. “Mentally ill people.”
  • Example: “This is unbelievable.” vs. “This is insane.”
  • Example:  “I’m really picky.” vs. “I’m so OCD.”
• There are exceptions to this. For example, the majority of autistic people prefer that nomenclature instead of “people with autism.” We want to make sure we honor the way in which people self-identify.

• 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
• 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
• 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
• 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24
• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-14 
• Trust and a good working relationship with your therapist is a major factor in a positive outcome

• Take This Mental Health Resource page
  • Includes Crisis Lines; Resources on Therapists, Culturally-Specific Support, Online Harassment, Streamer & Content Creator Support, Tools, and Apps
• Take This Expert Content page
• How to Find a Therapist: US, UK, AUS, and flowchart
• How to be a Friend
• Being a Professional vs. Being an Advocate

This is often a matter of some confusion. Please see our article on this topic. We also have a handy graphic.

If you’d like to cross post an article you write for us, that’s generally fine as long as the following rules are followed:

• The original post is exclusive to Take This for at least 24 hours from the time of original publication on our site. You may cross post after that time.
• The post must be cross posted in its entirety.
• Any cross post includes the following statement at the top of the page, below the headline, but before the post content: “This article was originally written for TakeThis.org, a mental health nonprofit which seeks to inform our community about mental health issues, provide education about mental health challenges and prevention, and reduce the stigma of mental illness.”

Absolutely! We love that people are excited about the work we do, and if you want to point people to our website and/or resources, feel free! Please link to our articles instead of copying and pasting them. Thank you!

That’s great! We usually have to say no to direct promotions as they violate our mission by being endorsing or promotional in nature. We will inform the community about charity streamers at our discretion via our social media outlets, but do not endorse any specific persons, games, etc. If you would like to consider a partnership with Take This, please contact us.

We’re glad you believe in what you do! That’s awesome! Unfortunately, we usually have to say no to these requests, as they violate our mission by being endorsing or promotional in nature. Please see above for our rules on expert articles. You’re still welcome to promote our website and our mission.

The Ambassador Program is a grassroots collection of amazing streamers who champion Take This’ mission of accepting those with mental health challenges. All of our Ambassadors go through a rigorous application process and exemplify our five aspirational principles, in regards to others’ mental health challenges:

• Hope
• Acceptance
• Kindness
• Self-care
• Effort

It is important to note that our Take This Streaming Ambassadors do not offer direct mental health services or individualized advice to their viewership or community. They are advocates for mental health acceptance. For more on what it means to be an advocate, please see our expert content on the topic.

You can apply and read more about the Ambassador Program here.

We have an official group of streamers as part of our Ambassador Program. You can read more and apply here.

If you aren’t part of the Ambassador program, but still want to stream/fundraise for us, we have a couple requests:

• Most folks find it easiest to use Tiltify or Streamlabs.
• Make note of our logo usage and trademark policy below.
• Feel free to direct people to resources, if needed. See below for specific sites. Our website is full of additional information.
• Please do not imply you’ve partnered with us or we’re working together (we don’t want folks to get confused).
• Remember that we’re a mental health organization and you are acting as a role model by streaming – keep it positive and supportive.
• Avoid using mental health stigma words, speaking negatively about mental health or anyone’s personal experiences.
• Have fun!

Yes, as long as you follow these guidelines for trademark usage and review our Branding Guide:

We at Take This work hard to make our logos and images (our “marks”) recognizable symbols for people looking for information, education, and hope. We appreciate your desire to help us spread the word about our organization.

If you’ve formally partnered with us on an individual basis, we have or will provide terms for your use of our marks. Otherwise, we expect you to abide by the following guidelines whenever you use our marks. If we think that your use of our marks is in violation with any of our agreements with you or these guidelines, or if we feel that your use isn’t in Take This’ best interest, we can revoke your right to use our marks at any time.

Your use of our marks shouldn’t suggest any sponsorship or endorsement by us, unless we’ve explicitly agreed to such use in writing.

You shouldn’t use our marks in a way that might confuse them with other brands.

Do not combine, overlap, or otherwise mix our marks with any other marks, images, or terms (including your logo).

Do not change the color or aspect ratio of our marks.

Do not associate our marks with any vulgar, obscene, indecent or unlawful material.

Do not use our marks when making social media accounts or in any advertising or marketing campaigns.

Do not use our marks on any product or merchandise without our explicit approval.

Do not remove any trademark notice (like ® or “™”) from our marks or logos.

If you have any questions about using our marks, feel free to reach out to us.

Please see the full list here: Mental Health Resources

A few selected links from the resource page:

• Burnout 101 and Burnout for Content Creators: A multi-part, educational series on burnout created by Take This’ Dr. Kelli Dunlap and Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo and especially tailored for content creators.
• Managing Chat When People Bring Up Self-Harm: A new series of videos providing mental health education to content creators on a variety of topics, sponsored by Rainbow Six. 
• How Streamers Can Respond When Viewers Need Help: Addressing mental health needs on Twitch and other streaming platforms has been a growing concern, especially given the lack of research that exists on the topic.

Not currently, but in case we are, we often reach out to our established volunteers, as they are familiar with the culture and operations of Take This. That said, we’d love to grow to the point that we need to publicly post job openings. Until then, the best support you can give is either volunteering at a convention, donating to us, or both!

Our social media policy outlines use for our official Take This accounts as well as use for personal accounts of our board, staff, and active volunteers and ambassadors.

If you have any other questions or need additional information, please contact us. We’ll make sure it gets to the right person to be answered.