Mental health conversations in Ghana have long been buried under stigma, brushed off as “big English” problems that do not belong here. 

A new campaign, Mindful May, is seeking to change that, loudly and in language everyone understands.

Betty Elikem Azornu, better known online as Miss Elikemm, has launched the initiative with a clear goal: to drag mental health out of the shadows and into the everyday spaces where Ghanaians already live, argue, laugh and scroll. No clinical jargon. No lectures. Just honest conversation about the state of our minds.

“Mental health is not just big English,” she says. “It’s simply how you think, feel, and act. It exists in everyone, just like physical health.” 

That framing, direct and stripped of pretension, is exactly the point. Miss Elikemm wants people to recognise themselves in these conversations, not feel talked down to.

The campaign runs throughout May, with a different focus each week. The opening week breaks down what mental health actually means in plain terms. It then shifts into real talk about stressors many Ghanaians know intimately: toxic productivity, the weight of family expectations, and the particular loneliness of being “the strong friend” that everyone leans on but no one checks on. Later weeks go deeper into specific conditions such as anxiety and depression, before closing with practical resources people can use.

“I want people to see themselves in these conversations. Mental health isn’t for a select few — it’s for all of us under this same sun.”

The campaign lives primarily on TikTok and Instagram, where Miss Elikemm is already a familiar voice. Daily videos, live Q&As, and content sharp enough to stop a scroll, that is where the work happens. “That’s where the people are,” she says, “and that’s where the conversation needs to be.” School visits are also being explored to reach younger audiences before stigma takes hold.

At its core, Mindful May challenges deeply held Ghanaian cultural myths: that rest is laziness, that silence means strength, and that mental health struggles are either spiritual problems or signs of weakness. The campaign pushes back on all of this with wit that makes uncomfortable truths easier to confront.

One line, in particular, has been cutting through: “Your mind is your greatest asset. Protect it like it’s the last 100 cedis in your wallet.” In a country where economic pressure is constant and the hustle relentless, the analogy lands. You would not be careless with your last hundred. Why be careless with your mind?

The name behind the campaign, FO NU, means “Speak Up” in Akan. That is the heartbeat of the initiative. Not just awareness for its own sake, but action: naming what you are going through, finding the words for what has been wordless, and asking for help without shame.

Miss Elikemm puts it simply: “Silence is not healing. It is hiding.” And if this campaign has its way, fewer people in Ghana will have to hide alone.