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SANE Black Dog Campaign

The SANE Black Dog Campaign was created to celebrate our 25th anniversary to highlight depression and other mental health conditions, and encourage people to seek help. It has proved popular and is growing in strength and numbers of supporters.

The image of the Black Dog has been used from classical mythology through medieval folklore to modern times as a universal metaphor for depression and other mental illnesses. Sir Winston Churchill famously used it to describe his darker moods.

Today the image represents the commitment of our campaign to raise awareness of mental illness. By encapsulating mental illness through the physical manifestation of the Black Dog, we enable people to visualise just how powerful, dominating and unpredictable it can be, whilst simultaneously affording them hope. Dogs, like mental health conditions, can be tamed.

“The Black Dogs act as a symbol to externalise moods and thoughts that are hard to communicate. We hope people will find a new language to express difficult inner feelings like anxiety, depression and loneliness.”

Marjorie Wallace CBE, SANE Founder and Chief Executive

Find out more about the Black Dog Campaign

Black Dog Campaign history

Black Dogs and where they are

Black Dog sculptures

Black Dog workshops

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