Haley Nahman (she/her) is a writer and journalist. She writes about how the COVID-19 lockdown, and the subsequent increased reliance on online communications, affected her mental health.

Musa Okwonga (he/him) is an author and poet. He reflects on how systemic racism within the media impacts the mental health of black men.

Gabriela Ivens (she/her) is the Head of Open Source Research at Human Rights Watch. Her piece focuses on the working conditions of social media moderators and the effect that this work has on their mental health.

Maryann Jacobi Gray (she/her) is a social psychologist, Assistant Provost at UCLA, and the founder of accidentalimpacts.org which supports people who’ve accidentally killed or injured someone. In our interview with her, she speaks about the importance of being able to connect online with people who’ve had similar life experiences.

Nathan Filer (he/him) is an author and former mental health nurse. We spoke to Nathan about how the language we use, as individuals and within the media, impacts how we think and feel about mental health.

Sophie Harris-Taylor (she/her) is a photographer interested in exploring the relationships people have with themselves. Zoë Hough (they/them) is the founder of Anxiety Empire magazine and they’ve struggled throughout their adult life to find a sense of acceptance for their acne and rosacea. Reflecting on Sophie’s photos, Zoë writes about the impact of seeing people who look like them being positively represented in the media.

Jonny Benjamin MBE (he/him) is a mental health activist and campaigner who was awarded an MBE for his services to mental health and suicide prevention. He shares about his work within the media industry.

Derek Owusu (he/him) is a writer, poet and podcaster. He writes a powerful piece of poetry about the impact of pop music and TV shows on mental health.

Travis Alabanza (they/them) is a performer and writer. They write about the internet, boundaries, and trying to control the uncontrollable.

Robert Kazandjian (he/him) is a writer, teacher, and boxer from North London. Like so many people, Robert feels the urge to reach for his phone when feelings of anxiety begin to rise. This is the starting point for his piece for Anxiety Empire magazine.

James Leadbitter AKA The Vacuum Cleaner (he/him) is an artist and activist. Many of his projects explore how our physical surroundings have the potential to better support our mental health. We interviewed him about his work and why the mainstream media narrative around mental health fails to include the environment.

Monika Radojevic (she/her) is a Londoner who won the inaugural #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize. For Issue 01 of Anxiety Empire magazine, Monika reflects on the impact advertising can have on our sense of self.

Laura Bridgeman (they/them) is a writer, editor, and educator who grew up alongside family members suffering with their mental health. Much of the mainstream media narrative around mental health focuses on reducing stigma for the people suffering, and there is little discussion about the impact on friends and family. Laura shares their experience of growing up in a family as the ‘well’ child.

Cathy Rentzenbrink (she/her) is a best-selling author who has, in her own words, “thought a lot about how to be alive in this world”. We chatted with her about the simplification self on social media, and how to step off the mad merry-go-round of modern life.