How to Support Men's Mental Health: 3 Action Points for Universities
The question of how to support men's mental health in universities has never been more pressing.
According to a report by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, young men aged 18 to 25 are at more risk of developing mental health disorders than their female peers. Meanwhile, the Mental Health Foundation finds that men are less likely to access support such as therapy.
This presents particular challenges for those working in mental health support in universities. Not only must their services reflect the unique difficulties young men may be facing with their mental health; professionals also must ensure that their services are approachable for this demographic, who may face greater difficulty disclosing a mental health condition due to societal pressures and stigma.
In this blog article, we explore how higher education professionals can support men's mental health through 3 recommendations. We look at examples of best practice from across the sector and suggest ways that these interventions can be adapted in your own context.
Co-Produce Initiatives with Male Students
Co-production is a great way to design interventions that best serve students. In the area of mental health, Student Minds has put together a helpful guide on co-creating initiatives alongside students.
Such interventions can be particularly useful when trying to determine how to support men's mental health. One case study from the Student Minds guide saw a group of male students come together to produce a podcast on men’s mental health. The charity also offers a downloadable guide for institutions seeking to deliver similar projects.
You might consider co-producing content and resources in different formats. For example:
The University of Exeter have a dedicated webpage for men’s mental health, which features a recorded conversation of a group of male students discussing their experiences.
The University of Bath worked with their Student Union to launch their MENtion It campaign, which included a Talk Club to address men’s mental health.
Students at UCL authored blogs on how to support male friends struggling with depression.
The benefits of co-creating mental health content alongside your students include:
Providing a forum for students who have experienced or are experiencing poor mental health to discuss their experiences.
Creating the opportunity for students to build peer support networks.
Delivering resources for other students who might have similar experiences.
The opportunity to collect feedback directly from your students on how to support men's mental health.
When creating content directed at your male students, there are important things you should keep in mind. Our top tips are:
Frame mental health issues within information on physical health, like the University of Nottingham’s Men’s Health Active initiative.
Try to avoid clinical language and deliver information in a light tone.
Stress the confidential nature of your services.
Signpost to Role Models, Spaces and External Support
One reason why men may be unlikely to come forward when they’re struggling with their mental health is a lack of role models or safe spaces. To support men's mental health despite this stigma, we suggest three solutions:
1. Point to role models that male students can relate to
You might consider asking male role models who have experienced mental health problems to give talks or attend events.
Importantly, these role models should be diverse. Not all men will experience mental health problems in the same way. An awareness of intersectional identities is key here. For example, research has shown that Black male students are more likely to suffer from mental health conditions than their white peers. So, it’s important to ensure that the role models you promote can relate to the experiences of students from all backgrounds.
The University of Warwick provides a great example: they have a dedicated page on their website of men across the institution sharing their experiences with mental health, including stories from academics, student representatives, senior leadership and wellbeing practitioners.
2. Offer dedicated spaces for men’s wellbeing discussions
Creating spaces designed specifically for men to discuss their mental health issues can have the benefits of ensuring men feel that their wellbeing is important and encouraging them to engage.
This could take the form of a peer support group or series of discussions or a buddying system, as the University of York’s Men’s Health @ York initiative offers. The initiative also creates spaces for men through common interest groups, which include sports and music.
Not all men want exclusively male spaces. However, providing the option to those who do – and ensuring those spaces exist beyond the core functions of your services – might encourage more male students to seek help.
3. Signpost students to external organisations dedicated to men’s mental health
Pointing towards these services will signal to your students that men’s mental health is complex, unique and important. It may also encourage help-seeking behaviours if they feel unable to approach services within your university.
You might consider signposting the following organisations:
You can also join up delivery with external organisations such as the NHS. For example, the NHS run a Men’s Health Week every year in June as part of the Men’s Health Forum. They provide resources such as posters, offer Man MOT training sessions for organisations and provide guidance on how to train Men’s Mental Health Champions in the workplace.
Taking part in these activities and designing your own initiatives will signal to students that you care about mental health and are taking active steps to improve it within the university.
Utilise Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities
To reach as many men as possible with your wellbeing agenda, it’s important to provide targeted support tailored to the different ways students engage with the university.
While not everyone will seek support from wellbeing services, pretty much all students engage with their university via the curriculum. So, if mental health is part of module design, you can reach students who might not otherwise come forward.
Advance HE has written a useful report on embedding mental wellbeing into the curriculum with a selection of insightful case studies from across the sector. Some examples include:
A student film festival with a mental health focus.
An interdisciplinary research project that encourages students to explore mental wellbeing.
A theatre project that brings together performing arts students and local community members who have experienced poor mental health.
You may wish to build off this and work closely with your academic departments to devise similar projects in your own institution. You might also think about how these could be designed specifically with men in mind. For example, you might ask students to cover gender in their projects or design projects around activities more likely to appeal to male students, such as sports.
You should also think about some of the extra-curricular activities male students might engage with. For example, several institutions have used sports societies and events to start conversations about mental health with men, such as Nottingham’s Mental Health Active initiative.
Not all targeted interventions should be centred on sport, however – it’s important to remember that not all men enjoy sports! This is where working with your Student Unions and societies can be effective.
The Student Union at University of West England organised a number of non-sports related events to support men’s mental wellbeing during Men’s Mental Health Awareness Week, including:
An art and wellbeing workshop.
A rap and spoken word showcase.
A Nature Walk & Talk followed by a coffee break.
You might also consider offering more informal support sessions alongside formal therapy or counselling provision. Students Minds’ research suggests that some men may be put off by attending sessions in a formalised setting, so breaking it up by orienting support around a leisure activity, such as table tennis, may be more effective.
Supporting men’s mental health needs can be challenging when societal pressures discourage men from coming forward and speaking about their problems. The question of how to support men's mental health for professionals in universities, then, inevitably turns to encouraging help-seeking behaviours and creating alternative spaces where male students feel safe to discuss their experiences.
The solutions explored in this article encourage practitioners to think about innovative and holistic ways that their wellbeing agenda can reach male students. Some key questions you may want to consider when designing your approach are:
Where are the spaces in your institution that male students can be most effectively targeted with wellbeing support?
Are there institutional processes that put greater pressure on men in your university and how can these be alleviated?
How can your services provide support that recognises the nuanced and complex ways that men experience mental health issues?
