Never a Bother

The Challenge

In the last decade, California’s youth have been facing an unprecedented mental health crisis, which only worsened in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This crisis has led to rising rates of loneliness, mental health challenges, and suicide, particularly in the BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. This crisis demanded more than a traditional public health campaign; it demanded a social movement with the power to fundamentally alter the narrative surrounding youth mental health and suicide prevention. With this goal in mind, the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Suicide Prevention partnered with Civilian to create a youth-centered campaign that would raise awareness, promote help-seeking behaviors, and supply evidence-based strategies for suicide prevention before, during, and after a crisis.

Our Approach

To kickstart this social movement, the Never a Bother campaign sought to empower young people to learn about and recognize the warning signs of suicide, build trust in resources such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and confidently seek help for themselves or a friend. Working together with diverse young people across the state, we hoped to break down the stigma surrounding help-seeking and cultivate a culture of care in which every young person feels seen, heard, and understood. Our vision was bold. We wanted youth across California to understand and believe that when it comes to seeking help, either for themselves or a friend, they are never a bother.

We anchored our strategy to a powerful principle: “Nothing about us without us.” Above all, this meant designing a campaign built by youth for youth. Prioritizing authenticity, relatability, and impact, we placed young people at the center of the decision-making process. Our Youth Advisory Board, composed of diverse paid youth consultants, worked with us every step of the way, from research and strategy to messaging and creative design. These were not merely advisors; they were co-creators. They directly influenced the direction of the campaign and helped guarantee that Never a Bother would be both effective and deeply personal with content that was genuine, resonant, and culturally sensitive.

Video testimonials from youth across the state, including members of the BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, those with experience in the foster care system, and those who have experienced incarceration, form the heart of the campaign. Each video showcases a powerful personal story of courage and resilience and speaks profoundly to the positive impact of seeking help.

The Results

The social movement we hoped to inspire with Never a Bother is well underway. Since its launch, the campaign has sparked a statewide conversation and achieved remarkable milestones. As of September 2024, Never a Bother has yielded nearly 450 million impressions across paid and organic media channels. Meanwhile, our Never a Bother website has yielded 1.1 million sessions with over 1 million unique users visiting, viewing, and engaging with the content.

The campaign has also generated 48 earned media placements, including coverage focused on our groundbreaking youth co-creation model and its impact on mental health advocacy in diverse communities. Based on the success of the campaign, we were invited to present our work to statewide mental health leaders and advocates with NAMI-California and California Mental Health Advocates for Youth, and Never a Bother was nominated for two Shorty Impact Awards.

Finally, our partnership with Grammy-award winning artist and philanthropist Megan Thee Stallion helped to grow the movement even further. In an interview on our website which launched on World Mental Health Day, Megan shared her authentic experience, reminding young people that they are never a bother and helping to break down the barriers they face when reaching out for support. Our collaboration resulted in exclusive interviews with Billboard and People as well as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook posts. Megan’s initial Instagram post announcing her partnership with Never a Bother yielded 4.4 million views and over 347k likes.

Never a Bother has proven to be more than a campaign. It is a testament to the strength and resilience of California’s youth and to the power of their voices and the experiences they share to change the world.