The Health Diaries

How This Popular Psychiatrist Uses Instagram to Fight Mental Health Stigma

‘When a black person is getting treated for a mental illness, it’s usually in an emergency room setting.’

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They call her Dr. Jess. She’s a psychiatrist completing her residency at NYU, and she has a big mission: to bust mental health stigma.

Jessica Clemons, MD, first found her niche on Instagram a few years ago when she started asking her followers basic questions about mental health: Did they want to know more about how to combat anxiety? What about depression? She got dozens of positive responses and decided to use her platform to educate the public, especially people of color. She started by sharing stories from her own life and offering weekly Q&As on Instagram Live. Today, Dr. Jess — who boasts more than 50,600 followers on Instagram alone — organizes community-based mental health talks in New York City. A few months ago, she was featured in a live therapy show on VH1 called In Session Live With Dr. Jess. She also recently hosted a wellness talk about normalizing mental health with rapper A$AP Ferg.