Everyone should understand that taking care of oneself is not selfishness but responsibility — Olena Zelenska

The mental health problem is relevant for the whole world, and everyone should understand that taking care of oneself is primarily a responsibility, not selfishness.

This was stated by the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, in her speech at the annual meeting of Yalta European Strategy (YES) - "The Future Is Being Decided in Ukraine", organised by YES, in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

"After the discussions about mental health in general that took place within the framework of the 'How are you?’ programme, I think the most important theme we have discovered for ourselves and the world is one of Ukrainian resilience. This keeps us together and helps us survive all these terrible months. But what does it consist of? We believe that it is in our common values: love, both for each other and our homeland, and in many ways, it is rooted in our history, culture and art. All this resilience can only be nurtured by exploring ourselves, our history in depth, and remembering and developing our culture," the First Lady of Ukraine said.

Olena Zelenska noted that the main cornerstone of mental health is social stigma. "Unfortunately, it is the feeling that a strong person does not ask for help; a strong person copes with their difficulties on their own; if you are sad, you are just tired, or if you are scared, you are just a coward. Many of these patterns still exist in our society, which do not allow people to think freely, even sometimes, about their mental health."

"This topic is important for the whole world. Mental health has no borders. Everyone needs to understand that taking care of yourself is not selfishness. It is a responsibility. Because if you don't have the resources to live a normal life, then neither does your family, and you give nothing to your society. And this can lead, unfortunately, to terrible consequences," the First Lady said.

"Fortunately, just caring, just being interested in the topic, self-help skills, of which there are many, can help avoid or reduce most psychological problems," Zelenska concluded.