Men's Mental Health Week

June marks International Men’s Health Week and 2024 celebrates its 30th anniversary. Raising awareness about this topic remains as important now as it was 30 years ago (if not more).

Each year over 3000 Australian lives are lost to suicide.
Approximately 75% are men.

Three quarters of Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people who died by suicide are male.

Any life lost is devastating. These men and woman are more than a number or statistic. They are loved as sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Most of us have been impacted by the loss of someone we know or loved either directly or indirectly by mental health and / or suicide. The tentacles of grief and trauma spare few.

Men’s mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing and is of course heavily affected by physical health.

It is well known men are less likely to reach out for support when early symptoms manifest or persist. Social and cultural conditioning of how a man is supposed to behave and how he can express his emotions have led to serious disconnection.
Disconnection from self, disconnection from purpose and disconnection from truth.

I reflect on my own journey as well as my experiences of working with men over the last 12 years and have found three things indispensable:

Courage
Connection
Community.

Courage

I personally had to completely revisit my understanding of what I thought courage meant.

At some point in my childhood, I formed this belief which I find quite common is boys/men don’t cry, suck it up , be strong. There was no space for my sensitivity and softness and as a result this very important aspect of me was shut down and suppressed leading to a plethora of issues.

“Courage may be the most important of all virtues, because without it one cannot practice any other virtue with consistency” – Maya Angelou

What I have learnt is that courage is feeling the fear and facing it, not knowing what the outcome is going to be. It is being vulnerable and it is asking for support.

Connection and Community

It would be difficult to speak of connection without community. All the big C’s they are implicitly connected and supportive of each other.

When I have been connected to myself, connected to my purpose, and connected to community , there is an indescribable stability and grounding.
Support and holding, being witnessed, and witnessing others are as old as we are as a species. Accountability, discipline, trust, mentorship, eldership, passion, encouragement, reliability, and challenge are all accessible when I lean into connection and community.

Feeling down? Anxious? Ready to give up? Don’t know where to begin?

The following are practical habits supportive of Men’s mental health – start with whichever feels most accessible to you right now.

1. Reach out to someone you trust
2. Build nourishing and fortifying social connections.
3. Engage in a hobby – something you love.
4. Get regular exercise.
5. Nourish your body.
6. Consider counselling/therapy.
7. Check in on your male friends, family, and husbands/partners.
8. Spend time in Nature
9. Eat real, unprocessed food. Focus on increasing protein, good fats and some veggies.
10. Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, aiming to be asleep by, or close to, 10pm.

In Strength and Kindness,
Broc xxx

• release repressed emotions
• find great clarity, purpose and fulfilment in your life.

If you're curious and have questions, you can book in a free 30 minute discovery call with Broc to connect with him and ask any questions.

Mental and emotional pains, hurts and traumas are carried by us all. Our natural reaction is to avoid, deny, distract and repress these emotions and experiences.

If you are curious to explore and release the root cause of your own pains and dissatisfactions in a space of compassion and non-judgement, book in to see Broc who will guide you through 5 weekly sessions that will empower you to release repressed emotions and find great clarity, purpose and fulfilment in your life.