“Dr. Blogger” promotes young people’s mental health

The series features a food blogger, played by psychologist Dr Kareem ElAlfy, and his assistant, Passant. Each short episode includes a comedy sketch in which they buy food from a restaurant and try to give it a rating, but their test always goes wrong. This then forms the basis for a nugget of advice from “Dr Blogger” about a certain mental health issue.  

“Young people love to follow bloggers on social media, food reels and videos, so we are using these tools to introduce more serious issues of mental health by providing information and giving advice,” said producer and YES project lead, Rafik George. “Young viewers would consider a more direct approach to mental health too boring to watch.” 

In the first episode, Dr Kareem advises viewers against mislabelling themselves with particular mental illnesses just because they have similar symptoms. This reflection is associated with a sketch in which his assistant tricks him by bringing chicken instead of quail for a taste test and tells him it is “fake quail” because she could not afford to buy real quail and found a cheaper option. 

Both characters are played by actors who perform in the Egyptian film industry, and many of their guests are real-life bloggers. 

According to Rafik, the 26-episode series, which was filmed in only four days, took about six months to write because finding an engaging way to present mental health topics to young viewers was so challenging.  

Actress Mariam ElSokkary, who plays Passant, told SAT-7 that she was especially interested in participating in the program after she learned that it raises awareness of the issues among young people in a humorous way. She pointed out that while everyone is on social media now and is affected by it, they do not necessarily get much benefit from it. But she believes that this program can have a very positive influence on youth.  

According to the World Health Organization, Egypt has one of the highest rates of depression in the Eastern Mediterranean. Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population conducted a study that revealed around 5.7% of the population suffers from depression, surpassing the global prevalence rate of approximately 4.4%. [1]

Dr Blogger is part of SAT-7’s Youth for an Enabling Society (YES) project, which is implemented by SAT-7 Egypt in partnership with the Norwegian Mission Society and supported by DIGNI.  The YES project has three main goals: to help young people in the MENA live well together despite their differences; to encourage and equip them to take responsibility for shaping their societies; and to support them in working towards the common good and building a better future for everyone. 

You can read more about the YES project here. 

 “Major Depressive Disorderin Egypt and the Middle East”, Infomine, accessed 8 October 2025.