From Psychiatry Clinic to TikTok: How Israel Is Changing the Mental Health Conversation
For years, mental health was treated by many people as a taboo subject, something distant, alarming, or relevant only to extreme cases and psychiatric hospitals. In practice, Israelis usually spoke about it only during crises, such as war or disaster. That approach, the article argues, no longer fits the reality after COVID-19, October 7, the ongoing war, home evacuations, long reserve duty and the strain of daily uncertainty.
Shulamit Muller-Butbul, the Health Ministry’s deputy director for spokespersoning, communications and public outreach, says these events have left millions of Israelis carrying emotional burdens such as anxiety, worry, burnout, sadness, loneliness and accumulated fatigue. She writes that the ministry’s task is not only to provide services and guidance, but also to create a public conversation that helps people cope, speak up and ask for help when needed.
The piece says mental health should no longer be viewed only as a clinical matter that begins in crisis. It is also part of ordinary life, including ongoing overload, lack of control, concern for children, extended reserve service, difficulty returning to routine and isolation even in crowds. Muller-Butbul stresses that not every emotional struggle is a medical diagnosis, but everyone needs permission to talk about what they are going through, and help-seeking should be seen as responsibility and resilience, not weakness.
That shift led to a new public outreach strategy, one that meets people where they are, in digital spaces, culture, music and daily discourse. The ministry says professional language alone is not enough, so it is translating expert knowledge into forms people can connect with, such as songs, personal stories, podcasts and artistic collaborations. Out of that thinking came the ministry’s “All That Helps” project with Assi Azar, Avi Ohayon and Matan Dror, aimed at widening the conversation and showing that the first step toward coping often begins when a person realizes they are not alone.
