Men’s Mental Health
Men’s Mental Health
Why it matters and where to start
Over 80% of rough sleepers, globally are men.
More than 90% of people in prison, globally are men.
Globally, men’s life expectancy is five years less than women.
Globally, more than twice as many men die by suicide each year than women.
How do we actively support men who are struggling?
What are the barriers/prejudices/stigmas which prevent many men from opening-up?
How do we help men to be the best version of themselves?
If we're serious about addressing men's mental health, we need to move beyond well-trodden assumptions that men don't naturally talk, or that men are the architects of their own problems.
If we’re serious about addressing men’s mental health, we need to accept that we can speak up for women’s equality and men’s wellbeing at the same time. The latter does not contradict the former!
If we’re serious about addressing men’s mental health, we need to ask better questions so that truly, we can safeguard the mental wellbeing of our sons, brothers, dads, uncles, male friends, husbands and partners.
In this talk, we will answer 2 questions:
1) Why are men and boys struggling?
2) What are we going to do about it?
And we will explore:
Psychological safety and why it’s so crucial in helping men to talk openly? What does the evidence say about psychological safety and how do you create it in a busy working environment?
Gender bias: what is it? How do media, politics and society perpetuate gendered stereotypes? And why is this bad news for everyone?
Toxic Masculinity and the patriarchy: as terminology, which is often used quite loosely and in all manner of situations, are these terms wall builders? Or bridge builders? How do we address the issues these terms describe, in constructive ways which foster gender unity and call men in, rather than calling them out.
Allyship: how do we become allies for each other? (understanding that allyship is a cross cultural and cross gender term)
Men’s communities: are they a return to the old boys network? Or are they an important, safe space where men can find community? What can we learn from the explosion of varied men’s communities in the last 10-15 years? And how do you build a thriving men’s community in the workplace?
The testosterone crisis: why is testosterone so important for male physical and mental health? Why are levels of testosterone dropping in men globally? And how can we reverse the trend?
Fatherhood: how do we better support fathers? From new dads to those who no longer live with their children, those caught in family court warfare as victims of Parental Alienation and men who are childless (not by choice), their challenges are varied depending on the sub-group of fathers we’re talking about. What is the latest research around paternity leave, fatherhood and closing the gender pay gap?
How do we redefine a masculinity which is fit for the 21st century? Where are our role models and who are the grouups who are leding on this work? What are they saying and what can we learn from them?