November is men’s health awareness month and a new survey revealed some staggering findings regarding mental health and depression for men.
Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts are all everyday realities that respondents to the survey suggested they deal with. Half of those who responded to the survey indicated that they don’t like to ask for help, which is one of the most significant risk factors facing men and their mental health.
Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is a professor and director of the UBC Psychotherapy Program.
Daily Hive recently sat down with Ogrodniczuk to discuss HeadsUpGuys, a website he founded to help men struggling with depression and suicide. He told Daily Hive that he started the platform because “too many men are killing themselves.”
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Over 1,500 Canadian men recently took part in a mental health survey sponsored by HeadsUpGuys.
One of the realities the survey revealed is that suicide among men is the second leading cause of death. In Canada, men die by suicide at more than three times the rate of women.
“There’s about a third of the guys that are saying, ‘I’m experiencing some thoughts of killing myself,'” he said, adding that it’s alarming.
“Think about that. At some point over the next seven days, you wake up, or it’s late at night, and you say, maybe it’s better if I wasn’t here anymore. That’s terrifying.”
Another reality revealed by the survey is that a third of the sample dread going to work.
“Where do the majority of adults spend most of their working hours? At work. So if you’re dreading that place where you’re spending most of your time, how demoralizing and depleting that is.”
Ways to overcome what might feel insurmountable
Did you know that nearly 1 in 10 men experience some form of depression or anxiety, but less than half seek treatment?
To learn more, join ADAA’s free upcoming webinar “A Safe Space: Men’s Mental Health” by registering here: https://t.co/qRBdb9JX8q@Got_Anxiety@ADAAConference pic.twitter.com/jnIPHCLgLL— HeadsUpGuys (@HeadsUpGuys) November 15, 2022
One of the ways men can help themselves is also something half of the respondents said they don’t like to do: ask for help.
“They don’t share when things are bothering them, and those are really strong risk factors for loneliness and other mental health challenges.”
One of the critical realities that Ogrodniczuk hopes to change is that we don’t talk about these issues enough.
“So what we’re doing right now in the present isn’t working. We need to do something different,” he said.
“We tend not to be our own best advocates, and so we need to change that, and we need to say, hey, we need to help each other and start doing something about it.”
He added that every death by suicide is a preventable death.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 1-800-SUICIDE or 911 for help.