Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, help is available. CNN —Megan Thee Stallion wants you to ask your friends how they are doing — for real. The rapper is part of a new public service announcement with Seize the Awkward, a national campaign encouraging young people to talk to their friends about mental health. “I’ve always been told I’ve gotta be strong,” Megan Thee Stallion, whose offstage name is Megan Pete, said in a video for the campaign. “The truth is that people have wildly different experiences depending on their identities, and types of sociopolitical oppression they go through.”That Megan Thee Stallion is speaking about mental health publicly “is forcing the conversation to go mainstream,” he added.

---

Persons: Megan Thee, “ I’ve, I’ve, Megan Pete, ”, Dr, Broderick Sawyer, Sawyer, ” Sawyer, Robert Gebbia, “, John MacPhee, they’re, ” Pete Organizations: CNN, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Jed, US Centers for Disease Control Locations: Louisville , Kentucky