Community Spirit ezine June 2019

Despite the overwhelming evidence that men and boys face a
multitude of physical, mental and social health and well being
many still promote outdated stereotypes and cliches.
“Man Up”
“Boys don’t cry”
“Men and boys don’t need help”
In England 1:8 men have a common mental health problem.
Yet men are still reluctant to seek help from friends, family
and professionals.
Male suicidal behaviours are very often linked
to a number of external factors. These can
include illness, a business failure and/or
forced retirement, thus suicide-prevention
plans often fail to address individual internal
or psychological factors such as feelings,
personal shortcomings, or relationship issues.
Research has suggested that lower suicide
rates among women are due to them being
able to manage complex emotions, as well as
having flexible coping strategies than
men. This suggests that men are socialised to
internalise their feelings and this could stop
them from reaching out for the help that they
need. (BPS.org 2019).
M A L E M E N T A L H E A L T H
H E L P - S E E K I N G
In England, men rarely seek help and account for only 36% of
referrals to Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies
(IAPT) . We know from the research that Men are also less
likely to disclose their mental health issues to family members
or friends, and more likely to use potentially harmful coping
methods such as drugs or alcohol in response to distress.
However, research does suggest that men will seek and access
help when they feel that the help being offered meets their
needs, is easy to access and meaningful.
(Mentalhealth.org 2019).
So lets start celebrating our men. Encourage
them to talk, share emotions and develop new
identities not solely defined by male
stereotypes.
Karen Tate is an English speaking Cognitive
Behavioural Therapist in Valencia who works
with a range of mental health issues.
Contact – www.outofsynctherapy.com
References – Office for National statistics,
Mental Health.org , British Psychological
society , Goodmen.com
M A L E S U I C I D E – T H E S I L E N T
In 2017 there were 5,821 suicides registered in the UK of these
male suicide accounted for 75% ( 4382 ). In the UK, suicide is the
highest cause of death among men under the age of 45. In fact,
the highest suicide rate in the UK is recorded for men aged 40–
44. These figures are alarming but statistics show that the
suicide rate has not increased since the late 1990″s. (ONS 2019).
Higher rates of suicide are mainly found in minority communities
including gay men, war veterans, men from BAME backgrounds,
and those with low incomes.
E P I D E M I C