Be a friend. To yourself, too

PFRU, Mental health program “How are you?”, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, 2024

Men rarely talk about their problems and even less often seek professional help – according to statistics, 90% of men have never done so. 

Together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the Coordination Center for Mental Health of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, with the support of the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Foundation, we have launched a campaign to overcome the stigma surrounding men’s mental health issues and encourage them to seek help when they need it. The campaign “Be a friend. To yourself, too.” also received support from First Lady Olena Zelenska.

The main creative idea was to shift the focus from the man to his friend, because men are often willing to do much more for their friends than for themselves. 

Thus, in clear language, through the prism of male friendship, the campaign encourages men to think about the need to pay attention to their own condition, that is, to be a friend to themselves as well. The campaign encourages us to think: if we are ready to help our friends in a difficult situation, why don’t we help ourselves?

As part of the campaign, we created an artistic video. The role of the veteran in the promotional video is played by Oleksandr Shvachka, a soldier of the Russian-Ukrainian war and host of ICTV2. He experienced firsthand the importance of support for the military, and through his participation in the campaign, he wants to encourage men to take more care of their mental health and seek help.

To further draw attention to the topic, a photo exhibition “Be a friend. To yourself, too.” It tells stories of support and mutual assistance and appeals to men to reconsider their attitude to their own mental health.

Bloggers and opinion leaders supported the campaign by spreading information about the project and encouraging their followers to become their own best friend.

The campaign received wide coverage – in total, we reached more than 20 million people through various channels and received more than 100 publications on various information resources.