Men's Mental Health

Men’s mental health is a daring subject for a woman to write about, but never-the-less an important issue to bring to light.  A recent article entitled “Men’s Mental Health Needs” in the magazine Therapy Today stated that problems with male  mental health are under-diagnosed and under-treated.  I would like to add to this that it is also under-reported:  after doing a little research, comparing the number of reports on the BBC News website and on Google, I found that women’s mental health is more widely written and talked about.

Looking at the history of psychology and psychotherapy, it makes perfect sense to me that women’s mental health is a more accepted and explored subject. 

Dr Sigmund Freud, who is known as the founder of psychoanalysis, performed what was in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, looked upon as ground breaking and controversial psychological research.  Although his methods would not pass as ethical by today’s standards and most of his work has been superseded, his theories still live on in the training of counsellors and psychotherapists.

Having been brought up in an era when the ultimate evolved being was considered to be the white man, Dr Freud based the majority of his work on women.  Perhaps it would not have been in his favour to include the “superior” white male in his study as this could have indicated his demise from the top of the hierarchical pyramid. 

As Dr Freud’s research on women became increasingly acknowledged, more followers began to develop their own theories and may unintentionally have carried on the myth that male mental health was perfection and a state of mind to strive to achieve. 

In society today, thankfully, our ideas are changing and a report such as the one published by the European Commission, openly discussing men’s mental health with research taken from 34 European countries, is to be welcomed.  Perhaps a recognition is emerging that men and women do have different mental health needs and that men have been hugely underrepresented in today’s therapeutic community?

Thanks to Mind a more user friendly and in-depth report on men’s mental health exists, with research conducted by Mind in the UK and showing very similar results.

With research results showing that ‘more men take their own lives and are more likely to externalise their distress through substance misuse and antisocial behaviour’ and that ‘they are more likely to suffer from work related stress such as fatigue and irritability’ (Therapy Today, Vol.23, 4), it may be time to start talking more about men’s mental health.  Bringing issues such as this to the attention of society in general will make it a more accessible issue for men (and women) to talk about and accept for themselves.

Bringing men's mental health into light we might even find that, after a little exploration, the gender differences are not so great after all.