NIAMH BOY, YEAR 12
‘Mental health issues affect both men and women, but not in equal measure’, a quotation derived directly from the Mental Health Foundation website. ‘Women are more likely to experience mental health problems’, ‘Depression isn’t real. You feel sad, you move on’.
Gender injustice of all aspects still remains deeply rooted within society, often extremely exposed to the public thus demanding change can be difficult. However, as awareness surrounding Mental Health grows, a change must establish. Society carries a vicious stigma in which; men can’t cry, men mustn’t be overly emotional, be brave and ‘be a man!’. It is only as society begins to comprehend the deeply detrimental effect these stereotypes and misconceptions hold on individuals, that real change can commence and the shocking representation of the gender gap in mental illness can be rectified. However, this presents the world with a huge problem: How can society notice this as an issue, and actively want change?
The purpose of ‘Movember’
In Australia 2003, Adam and Travis Garone, Luke Slattery and Justin Coghlan created ‘Movember’. This gave men around the world a chance to grow a moustache whilst raising money for charity and raising awareness surrounding men’s mental health and illness. Adam, Travis, Luke and Justin began the organization by convincing 26 other friends to participants, out of the desire to ‘bring back moustaches. Only one year later in 2004, 500 people took part the movement, raising a total of $40,000 for the Prostate cancer foundation of Australia. The ‘Movember’ movement elicited such popularity among Australia that only 3 years after its creation it was officially granted charity status. In 2006 the charity reached South Africa and Europe, raising a staggering $174million worldwide. Movember is an ever-growing charity that ultimately has elevated awareness for prostate and testicular cancer, men’s mental health and male suicide prevention.
Tackling the stereotypes
Adolescent boys and young men are especially vulnerable to the risk of suicide, Movember is on a mission to prevent this. The largest killer throughout the UK regarding men under 45 is suicide, with a total rate of 4.9 of men in 100,000 losing their life to suicide. Suicide rates for women is a third of the male rate, studies show that men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women in Australia, four times more likely in Russia and Argentina and 3.5 times more likely in the USA. So why is there still a misconception that women reap the consequences of ill mental health more than men? Although the statistics for suicides across both men and women would ideally be non-existent, it is important to acknowledge the significant difference between the two. This is due to society’s outdated perception of male norms, bottling up emotions often force young men to conform to these stereotypes for fear of not fitting in or feeling disconnected. Although some studies in the US show adult women are 1.2 times more likely to attempt suicide, male suicide rates are higher as they are often much more violent thus, tragically, less unsuccessful. Throughout the USA around 6 in 10 gun owners are men, more than half of all male suicides in the USA are firearm related.
Ultimately, after much research, the most accurate conclusion to draw upon is in regard to communication. Over generations society has installed a fear of sharing emotions, encouraging men to refuse help and admit they’re struggling. Therefore, it is crucial to talk to friends, family, or professionals when you feel overwhelmed or suffocated by societies stereotypes and expectations. It’s important to note that the only expectation you ought to aim for are ones set by yourself. This is also why Movember is immensely important to take part in or support as it makes the world more conscious of this troubling, but certainly preventable problem.