MEN DON'T TALK ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS

Suicide is a big problem in our society. In the Netherlands alone, it results in 5 suicides and 135 attempts on average a day. There is one group of people that is by far the biggest risk group: men between the ages of 40 and 70. Especially middle aged men with traditional values. 

Unfortunately, this risk group also forms the lowest percentage of people calling or chatting with suicide prevention centre 113. How do we get these men to reach out and talk about their problems? Because the best suicide prevention is talking about it.

Why traditional middle-aged men struggle to talk about their problems has a lot to do with expectations and roles they think they need to abide by. In order to get them to talk, we need to change the unwritten (male) rules that stop them from opening up, and show that talking about your problems, insecurities and mental health helps. The strategy is to ‘break the male code’.

The campaign delicately shows the moment where men break the silence on their mental health. In doing so they (literally) change the unwritten rule that men don’t talk about their problems, visualized by striking through the negative in the title ‘Men don't talk about their problems’, thus subtly changing it into a positive. On filter.113.nl, everyone can help break the taboo on talking about suicide, by sharing a photo in the style of the commercials.