MENTALLY-healthy 2026

HELP US REACH 1,500 VOICES. SHARE THE INDUSTRY'S BIGGEST MENTAL HEALTH STUDY.

THE ADVOCATES PACK. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SHARE MENTALLY HEALTHY 2026.

Every two years since 2018, Mentally Healthy takes an honest measure of how our industry is really doing. Last wave, more than 2,000 of us answered — and found 70% had experienced burnout, signs of anxiety at around 2.5x the general population, and the good news hiding in the data: where businesses genuinely put people first, signs of anxiety and depression roughly halved. This research doesn't just document the problem. It keeps finding what works.

This year we're asking what no one else asks our industry: what AI is doing to how we feel about our work, what happens when work we're proud of gets killed, whether leaders really see how their people are doing — and honestly, whether we're all a bit tired of talking about mental health. The more of us who answer, the harder the results are to dismiss. Our goal: at least 1,500 respondents.

Interested in reading our previous research? Check out our 2024 report.

Three ways to help:
1) Take the survey — anonymous, about 30 minutes, open to anyone in creative, media, marketing or PR.
2) Share it — grab a post and a tile below and make them yours.
3) Send it to one sceptic — the survey directly asks whether the industry talks about mental health too much, so their answer counts double.

TAKE THE SURVEY

READY-TO-POST COPY

Five angles, so everyone's post doesn't look the same. Use as-is — or better, swap in your own story. Tip for LinkedIn: put the survey link in the FIRST COMMENT rather than the post. It travels further.
Link to share: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mh26-friendsofnnc

1. THE PERSONAL ONE (MAKE IT YOURS)

Every two years, our industry gets one honest look in the mirror.

Mentally Healthy has been measuring the mental health of the creative, media and marketing industry since 2018. I take part because [YOUR REASON].

It's anonymous, it takes about half an hour, and 2,000+ people made the last one impossible to ignore.

This year they're asking about the stuff we actually talk about after work: AI, killed work, whether leaders really see us — and whether we're tired of the whole conversation. You can even say that.

Link in the first comment. 👇
2. THE LEADER ONE

A stat I think about a lot as a leader: last wave of Mentally Healthy research, employees ranked "empathetic, educated leaders" as the #1 thing that would improve their mental health at work. 69% called it absolutely essential.

Yoga came in near the bottom, next to motivational posters.

This year's survey asks leaders and employees mirror-image questions — do we actually notice when someone's struggling, and do our people believe we would? I want to know the real answer, so I've done the survey and I'm asking my team and network to do it too.

Anonymous, ~30 mins, every response makes the industry data stronger: [LINK IN COMMENT]
3. THE DATA ONE

Numbers from the last Mentally Healthy study of our industry (2024, n=2,015):

→ 70% experienced burnout in the previous 12 months
→ Signs of moderate-to-severe anxiety: ~2.5x the general population
→ 38% have been diagnosed with a mental illness — about double the national rate
→ Where businesses genuinely put people before profit, signs of anxiety and depression roughly HALVED

That last one is why I share this. It's not hopeless — it's fixable, and this research keeps showing where.

Wave 5 is now open: anonymous, ~30 minutes, run by the charity Never Not Creative since 2018. The industry only gets data this good if we give it. 👇
4. THE SCEPTIC BAIT

Tired of hearing about mental health at work?

Genuine question — because this year's Mentally Healthy survey actually asks that. Whether the industry talks about it too much. Whether anything structural ever changes. Whether earlier generations just had it tougher.

If you've ever muttered any of that into your coffee: your answer is literally data the industry needs. Anonymously. No one will know it was you, and I promise the results will be more interesting because you were in them.

~30 minutes: [LINK IN COMMENT]
5. THE AI ONE

Is AI a jetpack or a threat? Our industry can't decide — and it turns out how we feel about it might matter as much as what it does.

Last year, Never Not Creative's research found AI has intensified job insecurity across creative fields. But it also found something stranger: the people using AI most were among the LEAST burnt out.

Mentally Healthy 2026 digs into it properly, at full industry scale: who's feeling pressured to use AI, whether employers have communicated any plan at all, and what it's doing to our wellbeing.

If you work in creative, media, marketing or PR — this is the industry's own study, anonymous, running since 2018: [LINK IN COMMENT]
INSTAGRAM / TIKTOK CAPTION

Our industry's mental health check-up is back 🧠 Running since 2018, anonymous, ~30 mins. This year: AI, killed work, and whether your boss really notices. 70% of us burnt out last time — let's find out what fixes it. Link in bio / story. #MentallyHealthy2026
DM / WHATSAPP / SLACK

Hey — the Mentally Healthy industry survey is back (the big anonymous one that's run since 2018). Takes ~30 mins and the results genuinely shift how agencies treat this stuff. Would love you to do it + pass it on: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mh26-friendsofnnc

GRAB THE IMAGERY

Tiles for each platform, ready to download from Google Drive:

Mentally Healthy 2026 LinkedIn share tileMentally Healthy 2026 LinkedIn share tileMentally Healthy 2026 Instagram square share tileMentally Healthy 2026 Instagram square share tileMentally Healthy 2026 Instagram portrait share tileMentally Healthy 2026 Instagram portrait share tileMentally Healthy 2026 Stories and TikTok share tile

WHEN YOUR NETWORK ASKS

  • Who's it for? Anyone working in creative, media, marketing or PR (or who has in the last 12 months) — AU, NZ, UK and beyond. Freelancers and owners very much included.
  • Is it really anonymous? Yes. No identifying data required; results are reported in aggregate only. Naming your workplace at the end is optional, and only ever used to celebrate good ones — with written approval.
  • Is it legit? Adapted from an ethics-reviewed instrument developed by Everymind (funded by icare NSW), anchored on the validated DASS-21 clinical scale, and run every two years since 2018 by Never Not Creative, a registered charity.
  • How long? Around 30 minutes — shorter than last wave, and we only ask every two years.
  • What happens to the results? Published openly and presented to the industry, like the 2024 report on this site.
  • Support: if the survey raises anything, support organisations are linked at its start and end.

Thank you. Every share genuinely moves the number — goal: 1,500+ respondents. Want NNC to present the results to your team when they land? Get in touch.