Effect of a national mental health campaign on population mental resilience in the Netherlands: a retrospective longitudinal cohort analysis using a dynamical systems perspective

In 2016, the Dutch government initiated a nationwide campaign, aiming to increase mental resilience and reduce the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) through boosting knowledge and awareness, improving attitudes towards talking about MDD, and encouraging people to seek/provide help. Utilizing a dynamical systems perspective, we aimed to examine its impact on mental resilience and subsequently on self-reported mental health and healthcare use, in the Dutch population.

While the naturalistic setting refrains us from attributing results solely to the campaign, we also found no indication that a mental health campaign is able to combat the high burden of MDD through strengthening population-level mental resilience. There is a need for a stronger evidence base for effective and equitable population-level mental health interventions.