Men’s Mental Health

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In England, it is estimated that as many as one in eight men suffer from common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, panic disorder or ODC (obsessive-compulsive disorder). 

However, it is difficult to know how accurate these statistics are, because it only describes the reported mental health status-which means that in practice, this number may be much higher. Especially for men, it is difficult to monitor how many people are affected by poor mental health-one of the main factors…not speaking. 

Men often find it difficult to open up and talk about their mental health and body image. but why? A lot of it comes down to social expectations and traditional gender roles-requiring alpha males to be seen as powerful and controlled-but what is often forgotten is that, like women, these stereotypes and so-called “ideals” can cause everyone Serious injury. 

According to reports, 38% of men will sacrifice a year of their lives in exchange for a “perfect” body, more than 80% of men’s way of speaking will increase anxiety about their body image, compared with 75% of women. The person who focuses on the mental health of men and the importance of addressing and opening up our feelings is the former cricket player and TV personality, Freddie Flintoff. In the BBC documentary, Freddie Flintoff: Living with binge eating disorder, openly talked about his struggles with physical image and mental health-and encouraged others to do the same. It is vital for us to do this. 

Let’s look at some facts from mentalhealth.org: Only 36% of referrals to NHS talk therapy are for men Due to mental health, men are 3 times more likely to switch to alcohol and frequent drug use than women The number of men who die by suicide is three times that of women Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50, and we don’t have time to stop it. We have a message for men-talk to us, we are here. It doesn’t matter if it’s okay. It is okay to have body image concerns. Most importantly, you are not alone. 

Sometimes we don’t want to feel our feelings, and it makes sense when these feelings are scary, unknown, or feel huge and overwhelming. We don’t want to face them, so we let ourselves be busy or distracted watching TV, computer games, reading or drinking. Sometimes our habits can make our lives full of distractions. However, our emotions need to cycle. 

Suppressing negative emotions can lead to symptoms of mental illness and depression, which begin to show up in our minds and bodies. Disorders of suffering, pain, sadness, anger or despair require our attention. Our important reminder for men when they feel difficult thoughts about their body image: Speak. Fragility has great power.

Please contact us or send a referral form if you require professional help, we are here to help you!