The Men's Health Forum is launching a project to offer support to improve the mental health of middle-aged men. In this post, as project manager, I will highlight some key points for this cohort that has led to this focus.
For many people, this period can be a time when there are multiple and compounding stresses, many of which cut across genders but which may impact genders differently and result in different behaviours. According to NHS Choices, the middle years is a time when men begin to feel that time is running out. While some are having children, an event that can squeeze time and bring new responsibilities, others are not, which might impact them in other ways. Careers may dominate lives or not be as developed as people had hoped. Prospects for retirement, and the considerations around them, are viewed differently. More broadly, according to research conducted by economists Frijters and Beatton (2012) “the economic literature has unearthed a possible U-shape relationship with the minimum level of satisfaction occurring in middle age (35–50)”, regardless of gender.
These life factors are then filtered through a gendered lens resulting in different behaviours and outcomes for men and women. There is a traditional stereotype of masculinity, one that holds notions of “breadwinner”, “strong”, “silent” and potentially detached emotionally, that can lead men to situations where they do not feel empowered to share how they are faring emotionally and mentally. While this stereotype is constantly being challenged and the discrete lines between genders is blurring, it remains that men are more likely to drink excessively, more likely to smoke, and to be obese all of which can have a negative impact on a person’s mental well-being. Socially men appear not to fare well either when it is considered that 95% of the prison population is male and that 72% of the prison population suffer from two or more mental health problems. According to Crisis, 87% of rough sleepers are male.
Perhaps the most startling figure in regards to men’s mental health is that of suicide. In 2012 78% of all suicides in the UK were male, with the highest rates recorded between the ages of 30 - 44 and 45 - 59. Despite these challenges, males made up only 36% of all referrals to talk therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.
Systems and agents, therein lies a tension, as is so frequently the case; is it that systems are not able to engage men to support them to meet their needs, or is it that men just are not very good at looking for help when they need it? The answer will most likely lie on a case-by-case basis but from the above statistics and in the words of David Wilkins, former Head of Policy at the Men’s Health Forum, in How to make mental health services work for men, “This under-representation of men among help-seekers may also mean that the structure and style of service has tended to become better attuned to the needs of women” (D. Wilkins, 2015).
In the next blog, I will look at the proposed solution for supporting men to take action in managing their mental health.
If you are interested in this subject please read the report on men's mental health by Leeds Beckett University - https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/best-practice-mental-health-promotion
Our data on men's mental health - https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/key-data-mental-health
Our data on alcohol and smoking - https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/key-data-alcohol-and-smoking
Our data on men's understanding and access to services - https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/key-data-understanding-health-and-access-services