Nuffield Health
Therapist advice | How to talk about Men's Mental Health
Breaking down stigmas and giving practical advice on how to start a conversation with men about Mental Health.
For more advice and help with your mental health:
https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/mental-health-support
0:00 – Intro
0:18 – Why don't men talk about Mental Health?
1:26 – Why don't men get help with Mental Health?
2:35 – Helping men talk about Mental Health
3:24 – What can make it easier for men to talk?
4:34 – Encouraging men to get help with their mental health
going to be talking about men's mental health the sort of problems that can arise around this topic how we can overcome certain barriers that stop men accessing support how we can best help men who might be struggling with their Mental Health [Music] men's mental health is really important to talk about we know historically Notions of masculinity have made it difficult for men to open up talk about how they feel we want men to know that support is out there it may you may feel you know you might be having a really difficult time right now but support is available having conversations like this is our way to kind of reach more people so men know that they can access support and it's okay to do so and it's good to do so the traditional kind of perspective of a man and what a man should be is strong you know the bread winner um you know the one who protects the family unit for example and how we've seen mental health societally for so long is mental health equals weakness so that those kind of values the way we see mental health is changing but it's still very difficult for a lot of men to start talking about you know how they feel what's going on in their life because of the you know that historic kind of approach to Mental Health [Music] stigma is um a significant barrier for for men accessing support again whether it's related to how they're perceived by friends how they're perceived by you know loved ones like family for example those factors will will often make it really difficult for a man to open up about their mental health about their feelings again that perception of weakness I have to I have to be strong if I show any sign of emotion or anything like that then I will be deemed either weak or a failure and if you you know you hold that pressure it's quite a lot to hold on your shoulders isn't it to not be able to talk about how you feel as an additional internal pressure that we put on ourselves in reality we know that emotions are completely natural human thing to experience we all experience emotions you know we experience them in different ways but historically men have been you know told don't show this suppress this feeling deal with it you know man up it will always depend on the context that you're trying to support someone in you know it'll be different if it's a loved one to someone in your office that you're working with they often say don't they ask and ask again so you know how are you doing quite often our default response is I'm fine thanks how are you and we just crack on with the day but in you know if we ask again I'll actually you know how are you really because I know that you've been struggling lately you know you know and I'm here to chat so that's one thing you can do just making that individual as well know that you are there to talk you might not feel like talking right now but just know that I'm here for you if you need me so you're making yourself accessible you're making yourself available in a really supportive healthy capacity basically one way to make it a little bit easier for people to talk about mental health a little bit less intense way to start this kind of conversation is to maybe suggest just just a walk I walk around the block depending on the context you're in it doesn't have to be a very long walk you know it doesn't have to be going out to the countryside or anything like that it's more about just making sure the person who is struggling feels confident and comfortable and one of the things about walking you know it gets the blood flowing um it you know that that in itself being outside that fresh air that is good that's calming for us that calms our body down that will make it easier to have a conversation anyway but obviously when we're walking we're looking generally ahead so the eye contact is reduced by that which is which is nice isn't it because when we're having conversations there are emotional they're emotive conversations intense eye contact can be a little bit too much so the idea you're walking side by side you're looking ahead can take that edge off and make it just a little bit more comfortable for someone who might want to open up [Music] encouraging help seeking behaviors is a really good thing to do for to a man who might be struggling with their mental health because their natural inclination might be I'm gonna just push through this I'm not you know I don't need help I'm a tough guy I'm just going to be or I am you know I'll be fine it will pass well actually you know we know that sometimes if we leave difficulties um they can develop they can get worse so actually when we're encouraging help seeking behaviors we're sort of saying have you spoken to anyone about this you know have you have you thought about speaking to your GP you know we know that they can help have you thought about accessing some kind of therapy you're just reminding that person that there is help available there's professional help available and it is accessible it might not just be around professional help it might be like you know checking in are you looking after yourself you know the key things that we all need as human beings we need to be eating regularly you know are you having regular meals um we need to sleep are you are you making sure you're getting enough sleep are you going to bed early enough you you know you well rested and we need some physical activity in our lives you know we're all different we need different levels of physical activity but we do need some level of physical activity so are you are you getting out at all and if you know that person it's easier because you know you might know their Hobbies or interests for example I know you used to go running do you still do that does that help those kind of things and just encouraging that individual to think about the basics what can I start to do little changes what can I start to do to help myself as well foreign [Music]
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