Men’s mental health: It’s time for Australia to shift the system

This article discusses themes of suicide, including statistics about suicide within First Nations communities in Australia, which may be distressing for some readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, please seek help from a mental health professional or contact a crisis support service. In Australia, you can call Lifeline at 13 11 14 or 13YARN for 24/7 support.

A new Movember report reveals worrying stats about male mental health – but also a way forward.

Nathan Appo, a proud Mamu man from Innisfail in Queensland with connections to Goreng Goreng and Bundjalung Country, could see his dad was suffering. “He wasn’t sleeping, he had very high anxiety, he wasn’t leaving his room, and didn’t really want to talk to anyone.”

Luckily, Appo’s father did something many men in the Indigenous community don’t – admitted he needed some help. “There’s such a stigma that when you want to reach out that you’re going to be judged,” Appo explains. “[But] he was able to reach out to myself and our family, and we were able to get him to see a doctor, see a therapist. If he didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have him.”

His dad was one of the lucky ones, Appo says. “We don’t talk openly enough about these issues. And it’s very much an issue that takes over the lives of our people with our suicide rates, it’s terrible.”

The stats on suicide

Data contained in a new men’s health report from Movember, titled The Real Face of Men’s Health, backs him up, showing that the suicide deaths in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males is almost triple that of non-Indigenous men.

“Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and these men are 2.6 times more likely to take their own life than non-Indigenous men,” explains Dr Zac Seidler, the organisation’s global director of men’s health research.

Men in need

If there’s something that connects all men in the report, it’s the widespread need to tackle male mental health across Australia. “We are losing, on average, seven men a day to suicide in this country,” explains Dr Seidler. “And the ripple effect means that over 130 people are directly affected by each loss.”

The Movember team found that there were several other specific groups in Australia that also require greater access to mental health care. “CALD [culturally and linguistically diverse] men, men who are socially isolated and lonely, sexuality and gender diverse men, men living with a disability and veterans are key priority groups we need to better understand and focus on,” explains Dr Seidler.

Finding a way forward

Movember’s latest report uncovers the true state of men’s health in Australia, what factors have an impact on the wellbeing of men, and what we can do about it. So, how can we improve men’s health outcomes and prevent more men from dying prematurely? Movember are calling on the Government to fund and resource the Australian Men’s Health Strategy 2020–2030, to:

• Promote men’s health literacy
• Invest in gender-responsive healthcare services that are better able to reach, respond to, and retrain men in healthcare settings (e.g. screenings for prostate cancer)
• Equip healthcare workers with skills and strategies to engage men in those services
• Conduct more research into men’s health, to bolster the existing evidence base for what works and what doesn’t work

For those within the Indigenous space, Appo agrees that education around what to look out for and how to care for your community is crucial. “It’s really important to build our health literacy, but also build healthy relationships and networks [to support us].”

This stems from new Movember insights drawn from the experiences of over 1600 Aussie men, which found that almost 70 per cent of men reported abandoning their healthcare practitioner because of a lack of personal connection. Others claimed to feel rushed, ignored or disempowered after contact with the healthcare system.

“It’s really all about communication and engagement techniques that respect the depth and diversity of men’s lived experience,” says Dr Seidler.

As one example, for Indigenous communities, the report champions “culturally sensitive programs – co-designed and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”, something that Appo wholeheartedly agrees with. “It’s best practice to be able to work with our people, because we know best how things are going to work, we know how we’re going to heal together,” he says.

Some good news

It’s not all doom and gloom – the report found there are already solutions that are making a difference, across the board.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, initiatives like Deadly Choices in Queensland have already seen an increase in Indigenous men getting their health checked.

Other services — such as Bendigo Community Health Service’s free Men’s Health Clinic, the 24/7 MensLine counselling service, and suicide-prevention and support program MATES in Construction — are having a positive impact on the mental and physical health of all Aussie men.

The report’s calls to action could change the game. It pictures a system where there’s no need to tough things out, but to know there are solutions and help for males in Australia. It also affirms the right to expect care. “It’s about time men start to push and advocate for their health and wellbeing,” Dr Seidler adds. “Because it affects us all.”

If men’s health matters to you, head to Movember and join Movember’s petition and push for more government action around men’s health issues.