We launched Mental Health Week at BuzzFeed because media can play a huge role — for good or for ill — in how people see themselves and understand their mental illnesses. We see it around the globe: a shift from seeing depression, anxiety, and other disorders as shameful personality flaws, and toward understanding them as the illnesses they are.
This is a great gift of the digital age: our ability to fight shame and isolation. When we have the courage to talk openly about ourselves, and about our struggles, the people who hear and see us don't have to feel alone. And digital media has been central to driving the cultural change. We've found at BuzzFeed that some of the most powerful responses to our work have come from people who watched and read about mental health, and who felt less alone, less at fault.
Mental health matters for everyone. And we hope we can, as one reader wrote, "distract me from my thoughts and make me laugh. I hated everything about myself. I was still watching your videos and I realized that many of the things I considered flaws were embraced by the people in your videos and articles. They love the fact that they're an introvert. They embrace their tallness. They think that small boobs are fucking awesome. Seeing all these people love the things I hated about myself helped me learn to love myself."
We created 157 pieces of content on buzzfeed.com, 33 BuzzFeed Motion Picture videos, 55 pieces of content for Snapchat, and published content on our various channels across all social media. We also utilized our international network to make Mental Health Week global. Every international BuzzFeed team participated in Mental Health Week including France, Spain, Germany, and more, and we adapted more than 35 pieces of content for international audiences.
In order to maximize exposure and raise awareness, we collaborated internally across a variety of department, cross-platform media, and international offices to effectively take advantage of our unique stand in the media industry.
In terms of the numbers, we had 80M+ views for Mental Health Week content. More than clicks and views, however, our main goal was to raise awareness both in the US and globally regarding the stigma and treatment of mental health. We received thousands of tweets, emails, and comments from people around the world expressing gratitude and sharing their personal stories with us, which more than anything was the most important result of this initiative for BuzzFeed.
