Ice Bucket Challenge Trend Back Viral, Now Focus On Mental Health

Ice bucket challenge (Mndassociation)

JAKARTA - The Ice Bucket Challenge trend is now back on social media. This trend was first viral as a fundraising campaign that managed to raise millions of dollars for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research or Lou Gehrig's 2014 disease.

Now this trend is re-concepted by University of South Carolina students, to raise a new issue, namely awareness of mental health. This new campaign titled #SpeakYourMIND from the Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club, which was launched in March 2025.

This campaign adapts Ice Bucket Challenge's challenge to raise funds for Active Minds, a non-profit that aims to empower young people and change the stigma surrounding mental health.

The participants who participate in dousing themselves with ice water, uploading videos, and nominating others to join emphasize the importance of continuing to talk about mental health.

Wade Jefferson, a third-degree USC student founded the MIND club after losing two of his friends for suicide. He said the new campaign aims to normalize conversations about mental health and make it easier to access.

The ALS association, which went viral in 2014, admitted to supporting efforts to reuse the challenge trend, with a different point of view.

"We are delighted to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge living in the form of a new activism," the ALS Association said, quoted by NBC News, on Thursday, April 24, 2025.

Meanwhile, the Ice Bucket Challenge campaign with a focus on mental health has surpassed a donation of 100 thousand US dollars in mid-April 2025. The campaign has also attracted the participation of famous figures such as former NFL players, Pelyok Manning and Emmanuel Sanders.