The 10 best subreddits for mental health

One in five American adults — 52.9 million in 2020 — struggle with mental health problems each year. Despite this, facing mental health issues can often feel isolating, especially if you don’t know where to turn to seek help.

While the internet will never be a proper replacement for proper medical care, it can be a useful resource for bolstering your mental health or finding ways to self-manage any emotional problems you might be struggling with. If you’re looking for online communities that can support your mental health, it’s worth browsing these subreddits.

10. r/traumatoolbox

SUBSCRIBERS: 14,000

TL;DR: A subreddit for finding coping mechanisms

This small but mighty subreddit is dedicated entirely to surviving trauma in all its forms, including PTSD and other related mental health issues. The community has built a huge number of resources for dealing with mental health struggles, and also shares educational information on trauma and how it affects the brain. There’s a “Seeking Advice” flair for people to ask questions and a “Venting” tag for people to speak out about their problems to an audience of like-minded folks. It’s a useful resource for anyone seeking tried and tested coping mechanisms.

9. r/socialanxiety

SUBSCRIBERS: 332,000

TL;DR: A subreddit for overcoming social anxiety

Social anxiety is a commonly reported mental health issue that many people have experienced in one form or another. Although this subreddit is designed for people with a clinical diagnosis, it can still be helpful for those who struggle with anxiety on and off. It’s mostly a place to vent, with people sharing their day-to-day experiences in the hope of getting support, but it’s also a great way to pick up workaround tactics, or learn about how other people cope with social anxiety. A great place to seek a pep talk when you’re feeling nervous about social stuff.

8. r/Anger

SUBSCRIBERS: 32,200

TL;DR: A subreddit for people with short tempers

Although anger isn’t widely considered to be a mental health issue, struggling with a short temper or related issues can have a debilitating impact on a person’s mental health. This community teaches members how to cope with anger when it strikes by providing resources and first-hand experiences. You’ll find people venting about their struggles with anger, as well as tips on how to calm yourself down and free yourself from negative emotions. If you’re prone to outbursts that leave you feeling isolated or upset, you may find solutions here.

7. r/dbtselfhelp

SUBSCRIBERS: 24,400

TL;DR: A subreddit to learn psychotherapy techniques

Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT for short, is a psychotherapy designed to help people cope with stress and mental problems by teaching them about mindfulness and self-soothing techniques. This subreddit devoted to helping people learn about DBT offers a breadth of information to help users utilize DBT and manage their mental health independently. There are weekly posts for the community to ask questions and interact, guides for exploring DBT, and mindfulness activities that can help you ease mental distress. If you want a solutions-focused community, this subreddit is the one for you.

6. r/offmychest

SUBSCRIBERS: 2.6 million

TL;DR: A subreddit for people who need to vent

Sometimes, all a person needs when they’re struggling is a way to talk about their problems. This enormous Reddit community does just that by providing a place for people to vent about whatever is troubling them anonymously without fear of judgment. The community was founded as a space for people to share deeply emotional problems and issues that they can’t air elsewhere, but it’s also full of people sharing successes and happy moments that they can’t discuss with the people around them. It’s a great place to go when you need to vent — or want to browse some happy stories to snap you out of a bad mood.

5. r/bodyacceptance

SUBSCRIBERS: 49,400

TL;DR: A subreddit for getting comfortable in your own skin

Our minds and bodies are intertwined, and in the age of social media, it can be hard to feel good about your appearance when you’re surrounded by unrealistic depictions of perfect faces and absurd muscle-to-fat ratios. This community offers a space for people to openly discuss worries about their physical appearance, seek support and help for tackling problems with self-esteem, and hosts weekly threads with themes like inspiration, motivation, and body-positive media recommendations. If Instagram is getting you down, you’ll find respite from it here.

4. r/MMFB

SUBSCRIBERS: 38,300

TL;DR: A subreddit for finding comfort

MMFB is an acronym for “Make Me Feel Better,” and the community seeks to do just that. It’s a subreddit for sharing whatever it is that’s making you feel bad, on the basis that other Redditors will swoop in to help cheer you up. The community isn’t huge, but its dedicated members often provide lengthy, thoughtful, and uplifting responses to the posts of users in need. It’s a great community if you want some support and sympathy from people who won’t pass judgment on your issues and will really listen to what you have to say.

3. r/mentalhealthmemes

SUBSCRIBERS: 12,300

TL;DR: A subreddit for laughing at mental health

Naturally, this community isn’t designed to literally laugh at mental health. It was created on the basis that laughter is the best medicine, and while comedy will never be a replacement for proper medical care, sometimes in a bad situation, it helps to crack a joke. This subreddit is a hub for user-generated memes, which make light of mental health struggles, in a bid to get a laugh out of viewers. It’s a community of people who understand the difficulties of living with mental health conditions and face them with a smile.

2. r/nosurf

SUBSCRIBERS: 179,000

TL;DR: A subreddit to learn the art of digital detox

Although social media can be a wonderful tool, it can sometimes be overwhelming and exacerbate existing issues when it comes to self-esteem, anxiety, and even depression, by giving viewers an endless source of people to compare themselves to — or limitless options for doom scrolling. If you feel like your mental health issues are interconnected with your social media use, you can use this community to learn the art of unplugging from the matrix and taking time off the internet. Users in this community report improved mental health as one of the benefits of this habit, so it’s worth a shot!

1. r/mentalhealth

SUBSCRIBERS: 310,000

TL;DR: A subreddit for all things mental health

This subreddit was set up by the South Asian Mental Health Alliance as a space for discussing all things related to mental health. Although it's moderated by the organization, the community is largely user-led, and posts are mostly made up of members venting about their mental health issues or seeking advice and support, which is often offered promptly by this community. There’s also a resources flair, which can be used to quickly browse all the recommended sources of help that have been posted on the subreddit. Worth the occasional browse, especially if you have specific questions about inpatient treatment or psychiatric help.

If you’re struggling with mental health please consult a medical professional.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the number of Americans dealing with mental health issues. We regret the error.

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