Roxy Jacenko shares her mental health story for Imperfectly Perfect campaign
Headline-grabbing publicist, Roxy Jacenko, has fronted a campaign to raise awareness of mental health in Australia.
The Imperfectly Perfect campaign aims to change the face of mental health by capturing raw photos of public figures who have been affected by mental health challenges.
Roxy Jacenko is one of the public figures who has been photographed for the Imperfectly Perfect Campaign
Over 70 actors, media personalities and public figures have joined the campaign alongside Jacenko, including Rebecca Gibney, Grant Denyer, Jeremy Jackson, Sam ‘Sam Mac’ McMillan, Willie Mason, Mel Greig, Dominic Purcell, Hugh Sheridan, Julie Snook and Wes Carr.
I was just thinking to myself over the weekend how I wanted to see and hear more from Roxy Jacenko
….said nobody ever.
that genuinely made me LOL
This is the most insulting campaign for anyone who’s ever experienced mental illness personally, or had a loved one who has. Thoughtless and vacuous.
I agree. Roxy [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] is hardly imperfect.This campaign is an insult to the realities of mental illness and each of these celebrities is in a privileged position to get help and pay for the right treatments.
I really wanted to be positive about this, but I have to agree – thoughtless and vacuous and totally disingenuous. “Oh look, actors with sad faces.” Wow. Groundbreaking!
Does it bring back my mate who killed himself last week?
Tell me, if successful, beautiful, rich people have mental health problems – and have the means to access help – what hope is there for Mr and Ms. Average?
I for one work in the entertainment industry as a publicist and can speak for many actors and more that just because you see red carpets and events does not make a person rich.
Slapping a slogan on a picture of a sad face is not only shallow and insulting those who suffer from mental illness, it shows how little Jacenko knows. This campaign is the perfect example of why we need better leaders in this space who can have more robust and educational conversations, so people who suffer can have honest conversations with their boss, take a period of leave or even just feel understood and supported by their workplace. Let’s remember that a bunch of pseudo influences/celebrities who are predominantly white and successful in their fields do not represent the majority of those who suffer from mental illness, nor does it illustrate the very real financial hardships that are faced.
The internal inconsistency of this backlash is breathtaking. How anyone could on one hand condemn someone, whose struggles they don’t truly know, on the basis of their public persona, yet on the other advocate for the destigmatisation of mental health.
You’re missing the point. This is a woman who lives in a multi multi million dollar home, who comes from weath, had the benefit of a private education and support of family. I’m sure she did experience anxiety and depression but she, unlike the majority of sufferers, had the ability to hire help, to seek the best medical attention. It is near impossible for people to get medical or psychological help even when they’re suicidal in Australia which is the reason for our incredibly high suicide rate. Even those who do get admitted to psychiatric wards, and they are the few fortunate ones, are usually sent home in a day or so. The public system is appallingly under resourced. The focus of this and any campaign should be on the average person not the elite. And Roxy should be open and honest about how fortunate she was in her treatment options and support.
Interesting perspective from someone who sings the praises of working their staff into the ground, and bemoans the laziness of those who dare to have a life outside the four walls of her agency. Doesn’t really sound like she’s super concerned about the mental health of anyone but Roxy.
I completely agree! It is a known fact that Roxy does not speak to most of her ex employees and has also pursued legal action against many [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]. Her involvement in this campaign is hypocritical and discredits its entire mission in my opinion.
Well this is a little rich isn’t it.
Experiencing failure, a crisis of conscious, regret or embarrassment is not a mental illness.
So I must be really out of touch with current urban expressions to now know the meaning of “imperfectly perfect”. Going to the homepage there’s no description of its meaning, so a visit to urban dictionary turns up:
“An imperfectly perfect person is someone who has their own specific qualities such as being clumsy, nerdy, goofy, weird, etc. and those qualities make that person interesting and perfect in their own way. There is beauty in things that are odd and imperfect and being flawed is not always a bad thing.”
Or, as one of my very early psychotherapy influencers once said, “We’re all fucked up and fallible” (Albert Ellis). Something to keep in mind when you see “celebs” living the good life.
Until this campaign starts highlighting the plight of the employees suffering in part under these “leaders”, it’s an insult.
It’s not the people at the top copping most of the suffering.
uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
bunch of [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
This is an insult to those with mental health issues. Who approved this idea and who came up with this strategy – “I know let’s get some influencers on board to sell mental health, everyone is doing that right now”.
Wow!
What an uneducated comment l; first to say it’s an insult to people with mental illness. You my dear would be that insult, to make a statement as uneducated as you just have. Whether you may be disgruntled over something to make an assumption like that for every person that suffers is just silly. This campaign I can assure you isn’t an insult to me, my daughter, my friends whom I’ve shared it with and what’s more – one of my best friends so just happens to be an actress on the campaign.
Who I saw everyday for almost a year and half struggle to cope with severe anxiety and struggle to get help due to the cost of seeking that help. So how dare you say it’s an insult. Secondly to call people out who have an influential status due to no doubt working hard to be where most people want to be is again very uneducated. I hope you take my comment as a learning curve to really think before you write behind your computer.
Hi ‘Lorraine’,
I support this campaign, as evidenced by my own comment in this thread, however I do want to avoid astro-turfing in a bid to prop it up.
I notice comments from Lorraine, David, Sarah, Lexi, Aiden, Emma, Jodie, Brett, Mel and Rob have all come through in the space of an hour from the same address – some within minutes of each other.
It’s a courageous campaign, and I think you have sufficiently shown your support for it now.
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Hi ‘Vivienne’
You are welcome. I shared this with several people who have been following this campaign and actively supporting it and showed some of these comments. With which a lot are pre judgement on people nobody knows nothing about. I shared your article on my page and on the campaign community group so it is good to see so many writing.
Hi Lorraine,
Thank you for sharing. I understand you may be posting comments on behalf of others from the community group.
Thanks for clarifying. Good to see support for the campaign,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Like someone already said, I wanted to be positive about this… but come on, getting a [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] to play the violin about her demons… come on. She’s a joke on so many levels, the obvious one here that she gets her coin in PR and cant even put out a simple tweet without spelling and grammatical mistakes… and she wants money for that …haha… [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] … let me know and I’ll make sure you don’t have any more “brilliant ideas”. It’s a real problem for some (not me, I’m too narcissistic to let anything upset me) lets not trivialise it with stories like Roxy’s (boo hoo, we tried to scam and lie to people, we got caught and are just sorry we got caught (I actually do think Oliver is generally remorseful and should[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
Was Roxy paid?
So who exactly is this charity? Why not simply support those already established organisations that have expertise on the issue and know where best to distribute funds.
Casting a well-known bully isn’t a good way of establishing credibility and smacks of old-school hollow attention grabbing tactic of just sticking a celebrity in your campaign.
There’s a real problem with confusing setbacks or adversity in life and ‘mental illness’.
Mental illness is a chemical imbalance.
Mental illness has a diagnosis, treatment plans and consistent monitoring by professionals.
To start conflating setbacks, failures and life challenges with mental illness does very real damage in actually understanding what mental illness is. It trivialises and confuses an already difficult set of diseases.
Gosh that’s such a good point – there’s been such an overwhelming amount of coverage on Mental Illness, but too often it’s confused with, as you rightly put it, adversity or setbacks.
This campaign is the perfect example of getting no one with an actual mental illness on board to critically examine what they’re actually saying. And worse still, they’re doing grave damage to an area rife which already suffers from stigma and misunderstanding.
Hi there,
I agree that times of difficulty and unhappiness are too often confused and conflated with genuine mental struggles and indeed illnesses.
I don’t think you’re qualified to confirm that “no-one with an actual mental illness” is involved though. Perhaps not everybody on the list fits the bill, and perhaps some of the criticism levied at some of the more prominent figures is warranted, however, that doesn’t automatically equate to the 50-plus people on this list having never suffered a genuine chemical imbalance/ mental illness.
Some of them have, and it’s not really up to us to diagnose them either way.
Thanks,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Hold on, so you know each and every celebrity on this campaign and whether or not they have had or do suffer from a mental illness?
Shocking to read your judgement on people you really do not know nothing about.
Have you suffered or do you suffer from mental illness may I ask? I for one have and if somebody said I hadn’t I couldn’t find nothing more offensive. This is why the stigma remains because comments like this judging who has and who hasn’t make people avoid speaking out due to being told they haven’t.
while I commend people for standing up and acting, I think campaigns such as this would be much better off being done in partnership with an existing charity /advocacy groups with extensive support networks and healthcare professional support. The reality is, I don’t think anyone here is qualified to define what is a mental illness and what isn’t.
I can’t decide… should I purchase the Imperfectly Perfect Women’s Sports Bra, or the Toddler T-Shirt? Both are sure to make a significant impact on mental health awareness.
Next month I hear they’re launching the Roxy Jacenko Imperfectly Perfect Timesheet, featuring an 18-hour billable day.
I appreciate seeing something like this, it is another reminder to not be so critical of myself. Thank you x
Roxy’s post is the only one on their Instagram with the comments turned off, must’ve been in the contract.
Really, not that I saw. Why put a comment like that. Whatever your thoughts are on a person, they are yours and yours alone. Remember whether you like her or not, she is a mother as well. How would you feel your kids or parents reading nasty comments about you. There is nothing wrong with your comment but adding fuel to the fire about somebody who may have changed their ways you just never know 🙂
Well would you look at that… thanks for turning them back on “Sarah” ?
Hi Sarah. Do you work in the marketing industry or just a fan of Roxy’s high-class reality career? Roxy is a mum yes, she also peddles her daughter on Instagram for cash. I’d divert your sympathy to the mums of all the young girls that have been spat out by the old-school churn and burn model that Roxy applies at her archaic PR agency.
So many judgemental people who warrant that they know if somebody has had a mental illness or not. Whether it be you or I that raise awareness, or a celebrity does it matter as long as we get people talking. To make vindictive comments or judgements on Roxy or whichever celebrity happens to speak out is just wrong and as adults you should be ashamed.
Hi Roxy
Lol
I love this campaign and what it stands for actually. It has made a difference to me seeing people I admire talk about their mental health issues. We know a lot of organisations are political and this is merely an awareness campaign. This for anybody here that has actually taken the time to look into the campaign has been genuinely making a difference and showcases a variety of health care professionals on the campaign so I really hate judgemental people before they look into things. But after reading comments on any celebrity you publish mumbrella, nothing anyone can do with many of your readers is enough.
No one would have an issue with the campaign if it simply didn’t include someone who has contributed to mental health issues in her own industry. I don’t see one comment about any of the other 49 people involved, which is a real shame, and evidence (I’m sure that social media outside of the marketing trade comments space will be much worse) of a poor strategic decision to include a toxic representative of her industry. That is all.
So many hypocrites on here who judge so many others but look on their own doorstep. We wonder why celebrities some times take their own life’s too with people making comments like this. I for one support any person wanting to speak out about mental health. To say insulting to anyone suffering with mental health – you are insulting to us who have mental health. By making assumptions. Having gone through severe depression myself, bringing awareness campaigns like this make a huge difference.
So many hypocrites on here who judge so many others but look on their own doorstep. To say insulting to anyone suffering with mental health – you are insulting to us who have mental health. By making assumptions. Having gone through severe depression myself, bringing awareness campaigns like this make a huge difference.
This campaign got me taking to my son about mental health after I saw Willie Mason appear on it. So I’m all for it.
Roxy may not be everyone’s first choice, and yes she has been known to be controversial but she is also a mother, a wife and somebody who has feelings.
If your mother, sister or daughter had to read insults about them like many of you are commenting – absolutely disgusting
Rebecca Gibney got behind the campaign to say she once tried to take her life due to depression yet here you are saying these rich privileged people pretty much don’t know what mental health is. But I suppose if they weren’t ‘celebrities’ there wouldn’t be judgement from you, right?
Are you serious? So no one can be criticised because we all have feelings?
Do you work in the industry? As someone who has employed and met plenty of ex-Sweaty Betty staff who have been bullied and worked to the bone [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy], it’s actually a disgrace and damaging to the hugely important mental health movement to have her part of this campaign. I guess Belle Gibson should be appearing in the next Cancer Council campaign or Ben Barba in an anti-domestic violence campaign without criticism – because they have feelings and might have families?!
The message throughout this campaign is powerful and very courageous. As a psychologist, I am acutely aware for the need of compassion and understanding for those struggling with mental illness. To bring awareness towards opening up the dialogue is essential and this does that very thing. As a clinical psychologist I fully support any awareness towards mental health. So well done to Imperfectly Perfect Campaign and everybody involved.
I for one am not a fan of Roxy’s but that aside, I would never pass judgement as to whether she has suffered from mental health issues. I think we all have to some extent.
To the reference of the name;
imperfectly perfect person is someone who has their own specific qualities such as being clumsy, nerdy, goofy, weird, etc. and those qualities make that person interesting and perfect in their own way. There is beauty in things that are odd and imperfect and being flawed is not always a bad thing.
So I don’t get your point?
Imperfectly Perfect is suggesting it is ok to have flaws as nobody is perfect.
I’m sorry but as her Channel 10 program drops in the next couple of weeks with a promo about collecting handbags, each worth more than the average persons monthly salary this just wreaks of shameful self promotion and sucks oxygen from the underlying cause. The woman has no shame.
Some people are just [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] others have a mental illness.
I’m just surprised it took 20 odd comments before anyone realised that Roxy can’t write….
Early this year we launched an ambassador campaign and chose not to work with someone because we knew their involvement would overshadow the message of the campaign.
Roxy’s involvement may have gotten more attention for this campaign than it would have received without her, but most people in the industry would know she’d bring the wrong kind of attention.
IS THIS [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] BEING SERIOUS?????
She has [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] than just about anyone in the business.
Also there’s nothing raw about her photo.