More than 80 per cent of male Nottingham Trent University students feel confident in talking about their mental health, a survey conducted by Platform Magazine on NTU’s City Campus revealed.
The survey was conducted during Movember, which takes place across the whole month of November, when people grow a moustache to raise awareness and money for men’s mental and physical health.
Men’s mental health has always been a taboo topic as it is not normalised enough to make men feel like they can talk about their struggles.
Out of the 45 male NTU students asked, 37 said they feel comfortable talking about their mental health.
While this is not 100 per cent, it is likely to be a much better percentage than it was years ago, as we try and make talking about mental health normalised.
Adam Lemm, 20, said: “I’ll only talk to a few people if I really need to and if I trust them.”
Other students also said that talking about mental health “is nothing to be ashamed of” and that it is “good to talk about”.
Three out of four suicides in the UK are by men, yet not enough is done to make them feel they can reach out for help.
Many men feel they have to bottle up their emotions rather than talk about them possibly due the stereotype of having to “man up”.
Instead, men speaking about their feelings, crying, going to therapy, and asking for help needs to be normalised.
Movember began in 2003 in Australia, when Travis Garone and Luke Slattery came up with the concept of the campaign, having later had 30 other men joining them.
Ever since, the annual event has only expanded all across the world, bringing people together in supporting men’s health.
The money raised through the campaign helps fund health projects for mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.
Over 1,250 men’s health projects have been funded since 2003 including ‘Making Connections’, ‘Veterans and first responder grants’, and ‘Men in mind’ for mental health, ‘True North’ and ‘Biomedical research’ for prostate cancer, and ‘Nuts and Bolts” and ‘Know thy nuts’ for Testicular Cancer.
By 2030, the rate of male suicides is hoped to be reduced by 25 per cent through the Movember events running across the globe.
To find out more about the movement and to donate, check out the Movember website.
Lead image: Rucsandra Moldoveanu