How to Address the Male Mental Health Crisis
Men taking care of their mental health is an act of strength and a society that supports this becomes healthier and safer for us all.
As Toronto Mayor Chow and city council debate how to fund city services, unmet needs in the health sector are put sharply into focus. The mental health of boys and men is one key area in public health that impacts seemingly disconnected social, legal, and health issues and in which we must invest more at all levels of government.
Boys’ and men’s ill mental health represents a significant burden across Canada. About one million Canadian men will struggle with depression each year, and men are 3-4 times more likely to die by suicide compared to women, something that many researchers call a “silent epidemic.”
Males experience elevated rates of substance use disorders and neurodevelopmental issues like ADHD, while also having fewer social supports and adaptive coping strategies. Compounding these problems, men seek out mental health services at about half the rate that women do, and we know that racialised, Indigenous, and 2SLGBTQIA+ men experience further barriers to access.
Boys and men are more likely to express distress outwards (i.e., to ‘externalise’ emotions) and can thus be at higher risk of hurting those around them when experiencing psychological distress. Rigid adherence to traditional masculine ideals, like believing men always need to be successful, powerful, and independent, can also impair men’s mental health and increase the risk for hurting others.
The individual and social consequences of these under-addressed mental health issues are significant. Men make up about 75% of our unhoused population. Males’ ill mental health also contributes to elevated rates of criminal and violent offending, with men making up at least 85% of the Canadian prison population.
Improving boys’ and men’s mental health (and everyone else’s by extension) requires an emphasis on the social determinants of health. This means viewing health behaviours and outcomes as deeply linked with ‘social’ issues like: (1) Education; (2) Income and employment security; (3) Affordable and stable housing; (4) Food security; (5) Social inclusion; and (6) Access to quality healthcare. Social determinants of health are prerequisites for a healthy population.
‘Social’ (e.g., poverty, discrimination) and ‘legal’ (e.g., criminal offending) concerns cannot be understood in isolation but must be viewed as broader public health issues. Substance use is a public health issue. Unstable and unaffordable housing is a public health issue. Food insecurity is a public health issue. Violence is a public health issue. These public health issues are irrevocably tied to each other and affect our collective wellbeing.
This public health lens means that we need to rethink our approach to violence and criminal acts perpetrated by males. We should shift away from a criminalising “tough on crime” stance to a public health focus on prevention, harm reduction, and rehabilitation. This doesn’t mean that we eliminate enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable but rather see enforcement as an unfortunate necessity when preventative initiatives have failed.
To act, we need to increase male-focused treatment initiatives and normalise accessing medical support for physical and mental health concerns, framing help-seeking as of benefit to males individually and their loved ones more generally.
We need to bolster support for academic and employment opportunities targeting young men, with a particular focus in the trades.
We need to increase the availability of shelter and temporary housing, while also increasing affordable options for long-term stable housing with purpose-built rental units.
We need to increase prevention efforts to intervene with men at high-risk of violence, particularly domestic violence. This also demands continued advocacy for the rights and protections of women and gender diverse folx.
Finally, we need to continue to encourage flexible definitions of masculinity and what it means to be a man. There is no one way to be a man and no man can or should perform masculinity in a stereotypically ideal way all the time.
Men taking care of their mental health is an act of strength, and a society that supports this becomes healthier and safer for us all.
This piece was co-authored with Dr. Nina Vitopoulos and was originally published in The Toronto Star on February 3, 2024. Republished with permission. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/how-to-address-the-male-mental-health-crisis/article_1d7d1d7e-c069-11ee-87b4-b342958f058f.html
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Disclaimer: This post is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for psychotherapy. The information provided is general and may not be appropriate for your particular mental health needs. Always consult a qualified health professional to discuss your personal needs and goals.