This editorial and the accompanying suite of studies issue a compelling appeal for a culturally informed strategy for addressing mental health stigma. As the field progresses, it is imperative to leverage the insights from these studies, extending the boundaries of our understanding and interventions to foster an inclusive and empathetic global mental health landscape enabled via the ‘voice’ of service users/patients and carers. By undertaking this mission, we affirm our shared responsibility to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination, ensuring that cultural considerations remain at the heart of our efforts