Mental Health Among UK Males
The use of the noun “crisis” is often overstated. It is routinely used to describe issues of relatively minor importance compared with ongoing difficulties around the UK. It is also used as harmful rhetoric in order to satisfy agendas, gain favour and attention – think “migrant crisis”. However, to describe the declination of mental health among males in the UK this way is unequivocally accurate.
Mental health among males is on the decline. While many would assume this mainly applies to those facing financial difficulty or safety problems, the truth is that male mental health is in crisis regardless of many factors the public would consider mitigating.
Professional MMA fighter Paddy Pimblett, an international celebrity revered around the world for his fighting skills and personality, recently spoke out about his mental health issues, admitting his coach wanted to cancel his recent fight weeks prior to the bout. Pimblett did what society says men aren’t supposed to do; he spoke out. You may be presuming that he gathered mass support particularly from the UK fans following his brave decision. That was not the case. Pimblett shared screenshots from social media where he was encouraged to kill himself and images sent to him of the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, mocking his Liverpool routes and fandom.
Pimblett is one of many notable figures in the UK who have spoken out about their struggle with mental health, namely Prince Harry, Roman Kemp and Kit Harrington just to name a few. What is certain about the issue of mental health is the advantages of financial security, attention and fame do not make a difference with regard to the suffering males feel in this country. While the aforementioned figures have additional means to support themselves, many in the UK are facing the same issues in addition the burdens of financial and housing security.
The declination of mental health among males is undeniably a contributing factor to the rampant levels of male suicide in the country. In December 2023, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published their 2022 Suicide Data for England and the figures are incredible alarming. In England, males committed suicide 3909 times and were three times more likely to die by suicide than females. Furthermore, 52% of men would be concerned about taking time off work for mental health purposes and 46% would be ashamed or embarrassed to tell their employer (Mental Health UK). The terminology here is important as it speaks to the societal discourse around mental health among males. To be embarrassed about admitting suffering is tied to the notion of masculinity and suffering in silence. It is perpetuated by popular figures among the youth such as Andrew Tate who boldly claimed that “depression isn’t real”.
To boldly decree to millions of followers, many of whom are still in their infancy and formative years that men don’t suffer from mental health and depression while the figures are as rampant as they are is emblematic of one of the key reasons for the crisis – it doesn’t grab the headlines. A statement like the one uttered by Tate would be more newsworthy to many than the appalling figures released last year. After the aforementioned Paddy Pimblett’s fight last weekend, the discourse among the sports media surrounded his spectacular win and who he should fight next despite him making a public declaration of his ongoing internal struggle
The issue at hand is one that directly impacts men in the UK everyday and yet they aren’t given nearly as much media attention as flights to Rwanda and boats in the channel are every single day.
Newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised mental health reform including 8500 specially trained mental health staff and support in every school, however this pledge is not one of his most discussed or noteworthy among media members.
We hope to see these reforms and additional measure are implemented by the new government. We hope that the Prime Minister can also follow through with his promises on rough sleepers and homelessness in order to give males a route into normalcy and future employment. We hope that the public, the media and the government recognise that there is no bigger social crisis in the UK than the declination of mental health among males in this country.