Why Men's Mental Health Awareness Isn't Working: 5 Hidden Pitfalls

This month the campaigns are back. The slogans, the hashtags, a whole month dedicated to men's mental health.

There has been a real shift. The conversation is more open, and more men seem to be reaching out when they are struggling. That is a good thing.

But with so much focus on mental health come some hidden pitfalls.

Not sure what kind of support you need? This short quiz will point you to the right place to start.

1. It puts the burden on the man who is struggling

We raise boys to hide pain, reward men for coping alone, and build almost nothing that teaches them how to feel or reach for each other.

Then we run awareness campaigns asking the man who is struggling to raise his hand.

This was never one man's problem. We have built a culture with almost no spaces where men are allowed to be fully human.

Stop waiting for him to raise his hand. Build a culture where not raising it is the problem.

2. It is hyper focused on the mind

We call it mental health, so we look for the answer in the mind.

Yet so much of what men carry begins in a body he stopped listening to and feelings he learned to switch off.

3. It can over-pathologise being human

Over-pathologising is when normal human emotions, behaviours and life challenges get treated as symptoms of mental illness. Grief, anger, restlessness and a hard few months start to look like disorders.

We cast spells with our words.

An Oxford researcher and a colleague have proposed that awareness may lead some people to read ordinary distress as a disorder, and that the label itself can make it heavier. They also say awareness can help people recognise real problems, and their idea still needs testing.

So this isn't a reason to ignore how you feel. It's a reason to be careful what you call it.

4. The options available do not fit most men

"Just talk about your feelings" is rarely what is needed.

Men need somewhere to go, something to do and other men to do it with.

Reaching out still matters, but it takes a lifestyle shift and a re-prioritisation of what you have been told is important.

5. It subtly speaks to men as a problem

Most campaigns talk about men being at risk.

We need more empowering campaigns that set a standard for men doing the work, normalising what is possible, not just the problem.

"Awareness without action is a freeze response."

Chris Geisler

The real question

Mental health describes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing, and is often judged by how well we cope with everyday stress.

So the real question is not how aware we are. It is how we build the resilience and innerstanding to meet life as it comes.

Men of Earth exists to bring men together to not just talk, but to act their way into a new way of being.

Structure. Community. Practice.

If you're struggling right now, please don't wait. Talk to your GP, or call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans are on 116 123, day or night.

If this landed with you, send it to a man who needs to hear it.

Want more like this? Get Midweek Medicine straight to your inbox.

Related posts

• The Cost Of Men's Silence
• Why Do I Push People Away? The Father Wound Most Men Don't Know They Carry
• The Missing Adam's Apple: Fact, Myth and Why Everyone's Talking About It