Ahead of the FDA’s decision on Bristol Myers Squibb’s schizophrenia treatment KarXT, the Big Pharma has kicked off a campaign this week to improve education around and destigmatize the mental illness while also providing helpful resources for patients.
The “Live Your PosSCZible” initiative features the real-life stories of both people living with schizophrenia and their care partners.
“We created the campaign because we wanted to change the face of schizophrenia and show what is possible,” Jasmine Greenamyer, vice president of patient outreach at BMS, said in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing. “Our goal is to drive more positive conversations about their lived experience, their aspirations and what’s fully possible when they manage their symptoms and have the right support.”
Among the individuals featured in the campaign are actor Taye Diggs and his younger sister, Christian, speaking publicly for the first time about Christian’s diagnosis with schizophrenia as a young adult. The duo appears in a four-minute video for BMS in which they talk through the experience of navigating Christian’s diagnosis and finding a treatment plan that allowed her to “piece [her] life back together.”
“When my sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my family was incredibly worried. At first, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. So much of the information out there doesn’t accurately show what life with schizophrenia can be,” Diggs said in BMS’ campaign launch announcement. “But today, with support from medical professionals, my sister is managing her mental illness and is working and living independently, enjoys yoga and dance, and is doing really well.”
He continued, “We want to get rid of the negative images many of us have of schizophrenia and raise awareness that people with schizophrenia can live full, happy lives.”
In addition to the siblings’ video and another minute-long spot declaring the campaign’s goal of “flipping the script,” the “Live Your PosSCZible” site features the stories of several other individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia as well as a list of resources that can connect patients and their care partners with mental health professionals, guides to the condition, support organizations, testimonials and other helpful tools.
Elsewhere, the campaign’s dedicated social media channels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube will share a series of short videos in the trendy “#GRWM” style, in which people with schizophrenia will invite viewers to “get ready with me.” The videos will be posted at various times throughout the day, according to BMS, to reflect the varied schedules of people living with the disorder.
That aspect of the campaign came about as a result of discussions with members of the schizophrenia community, who Greenamyer said asked to see “positive examples of people managing a day that may look different than others, and of what is fully possible.”
“We have a combination of people that are highlighting their own experience,” she said, offering a few examples: “We have Michelle, who’s a graphic artist, who shows what it’s like for her to get ready in the morning. … [And] we have Carlos, who graduated law school, who talks about what it’s like for him to study and get ready for the bar.”
Greenamyer noted that BMS made a point of going with an “intentionally social media-intensive” approach for the campaign in part because that’s where its target audience spends a lot of time; schizophrenia most commonly emerges and is diagnosed between the late teens and early thirties.
On top of that, she continued, “One thing that we’ve seen particularly in this patient community is that people living with schizophrenia often find each other on social media, and this is particularly important in rural areas where it’s quite often hard to find others who are impacted.”
So, by taking that approach with the campaign, “We’re hoping that there’s engagement between those living with schizophrenia, their care partners and other allies,” Greenamyer said. The campaign’s success will be measured based on that engagement, she explained, whether it’s helping viewers “find inspiration in seeing others directly impacted by this,” or “just increasing visibility to the different resources that we’ve gotten feedback are quite often hard to find.”