Boys Do Cry campaign makes positive impact on men's mental health

A national media campaign was launched in November 2021 that focuses on encouraging Australian men to seek help when they are struggling with their mental health. The Boys Do Cry campaign has as its centrepiece a music video tested in a randomised controlled trial by researchers from the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Mental Health as part of the Buoy Project.

The video is based on The Cure song ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and aims to encourage men to speak up to their mates, family or a professional when they are struggling.

The campaign has garnered great attention in its initial weeks. Highlights of the campaign so far have included a tweet of the video by The Cure's frontman, Robert Smith; and the video appearing as a staff pick on the video hosting platform, Vimeo, which has 1.3 million followers. The campaign will continue until March 2022.

The randomised controlled trial tested the effects of watching the Boys Do Cry video on the intentions of Australian men to seek help for mental health difficulties. The research team is very grateful to the almost 500 men who took part in the trial, which included men aged from 18 to 87.

Preliminary findings of the trial show that those who watched the Boys Do Cry video had increased intentions to seek help for mental health difficulties. The research team is now delving more deeply into the trial data.