One man in five dies before the age of 65.
TOGETHER we can change that.

Men's mental health in The Psychologist journal

05/06/14 . Blog

The Men's Health Forum has been campaigning for over a decade on the vital issue of male mental health. David Wilkins looks at new work on the issue.

Men are much less likely to be diagnosed with psychological ill health but are greatly more likely to take their own lives, to become alcohol or drug dependent, to wind up living rough, to commit acts of unprovoked violence and to abandon home and family without leaving contact details.

MHF believes that lower diagnosis rates at the individual level represent a paradox when set against these population level indicators of male psychological distress.

Part of the explanation may be that cultural and societal expectations make it more difficult for men to seek help in good time.  Some men indeed, may never seek help. They will find it virtually impossible to overcome the belief that emotional and psychological problems mark them as weak or failing. Men are also known to have fewer intimate friendships and to be less likely to maintain links with family – these kinds of factors are protective of mental health and well-being. We also think it is probable that there is less public and professional sympathy for men who are experiencing mental illness and that services are less well equipped to provide support for men.

There has been progress. Some local health providers in recent years have commissioned "male-sensitive" services. Government has acknowledged the need to provide increased support for military veterans who suffer as a consequence of their experience in action. Some schools have tried to address boys' conduct problems and their poorer educational outcomes. Several third sector organisations have looked at the ways to encourage male uptake of support services, among them Mind, the Mental Health Foundation and Relate. This year's inaugural Being a Man Festival at the Southbank Centre in London attracted large attendances and several well known men took part in public debates about the meaning of masculinity and maleness in the 21st century.

The MHF itself has been commissioned in recent years to provide two national level reports into the key issues in male mental health. And to offer something of a teaser, we are currently working with partner organisations on an initiative that should result in a major leap forward in work on the issue in the next year or so.

Against this background, MHF is delighted to see the thoughtful consideration of men's mental health needs in the current "men's special issue" (June 2014) of The Psychologist. The Psychologist is the professional journal of the British Psychological Society. It is widely read by practising psychologists and others working to provide support to people diagnosed with mental disorders. Among other things, the articles in the special issue look at how to provide therapeutic services that are sensitive to men's needs; whether present services are inherently better at meeting the needs of women and how we have viewed male mental health in earlier historical periods.

Although it is written for a professional audience, The Psychologist is not an academic journal. Anyone with an interest in men's well-being will find the articles accessible and engaging. 

 

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

Registered with the Fundraising Regulator

Contact
Address
  • The Men's Health Forum
  • 82 Tanner Street
  • London, SE1 3GN

Charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1087375). Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 4142349).