Table Of ContentPromoting Men’s Mental Health
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Promoting Men’s Mental
Health
Edited by
DAVID CONRAD
Specialty Registrar in Public Health, Liverpool PCT
Associate Member, Centre for Men’s Health
Leeds Metropolitan University
and
ALAN WHITE
Professor of Men’s Health, Centre for Men’s Health
Leeds Metropolitan University
Forewords by
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
Mind Champion 2009, author of All In The Mind
Spokesman and Chief Strategist to the Prime Minister, 1994–2003
and
LOUIS APPLEBY
National Clinical Director for Mental Health
Radcliffe Publishing
Oxford (cid:129) New York
CRC Press
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© 2010 by David Conrad and Alan White
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Contents
Foreword by Alastair Campbell vii
Foreword by Louis Appleby ix
Preface x
About the editors xii
About the authors xiii
About the Men’s Health Forum xxi
1 Introduction 1
Alan White
2 On the edge? An introduction to men’s mental health 7
Peter Branney and Alan White
3 Cultural representations of masculinity and mental health 18
David Conrad and Louise Warwick-Booth
4 Social capital and men’s mental health 26
David Conrad
5 Urban distress and the mental health of men 39
April MW Young
6 Rural men’s mental health 57
Steve Robertson, Keith Elder and Ruth Coombs
7 Fatherhood and mental health diffi culties in the postnatal period 74
Svend Aage Madsen and Adrienne Burgess
8 Marketing masculinities: a social marketing approach to
promoting men’s mental health 83
Paul Hopkins and Jeremy Voaden
9 Men and suicide 96
Pete Sayers
10 Men bereaved through suicide 106
Mike Bush
11 Grumpy Old Men? Older men’s mental health and emotional
well-being 111
Toby Williamson
12 Combat-related stress 125
Walter Busuttil
13 Anger management and violence prevention with men 142
Sue and Pete Dominey
14 Tackling stress in the workplace 150
Andrew Kinder and Steve Boorman
15 Gay men’s mental health 160
Justin Varney
16 Delivering healthy sexuality programmes for young men 170
Tricia Dressel
17 Working with dads and lads 177
Dennis Jones
18 Tackling racial and cultural bullying in schools 187
Merv Pemberton
19 Working with prisoners and young offenders 195
James Woodall
20 Service provision for homeless men 204
Jo McCullagh
21 Working with drug users 212
Barry Langham and Nick Davy
22 The mental health of men with cancer 219
Martin Neal and David Conrad
23 Running a counselling service for men 230
Christian Scambor
24 Using helplines and the internet 241
Stephen Anderson
25 Promoting men’s mental health services: building from the
ground up 247
Jane Powell
26 Conclusion 256
Alan White and David Conrad
Index 263
Foreword
Alastair Campbell
This book is a welcome and important contribution to a thankfully growing debate.
Mental illness remains in some ways the last great taboo in our society, a taboo which
leads directly to stigma and discrimination which for some can be even worse than
the symptoms of their illness. If it is true that one in four of us will at some point
have direct experience of mental illness – and sometimes I believe this widely quoted
fi gure is an underestimation – then as a society we have to be far more open and
honest about the issues that fl ow from that. It is also the case, in very general terms,
that men are more likely than women not to be open, and not to reach out for help
when they may need it. Good mental health isn’t simply an absence of mental health
problems, but a positive state of well-being that enables us to realise our own abil-
ities, contribute productively to society and cope with the normal stresses of life.
The term ‘mental health’ for many people though is simply another way of talking
about mental illness; something which, for men especially, largely remains off limits.
Men’s reluctance to acknowledge emotional pressures to others, or frequently even
to themselves, can create a build-up of pressure which often only fi nds release at the
point of crisis. When the crisis hits, the stigma of mental illness and its incompatib-
ility with dominant notions of masculinity mean that men are more reluctant than
women to seek the help that they may need.
This book in part is about encouraging men who have reached crisis point to
seek help. Equally it’s about prevention, and sets out some of the excellent work
being done on that.
As well as practical work which is happening in communities around the coun-
try, there is also much work to be done to change representations of mental health
issues in the media – to help de-stigmatise mental illness. Too often, mental illness
in the media is linked to violence, whereas in truth the mentally ill are more likely
to be the victim than perpetrator of violence.
While a lot of good work is already being done, the targeted promotion of men-
tal health to men and boys is still in its infancy. In highlighting some of the work
already being done, I hope it can inspire practitioners and policy-makers to initiate
vii
viii FOREWORD BY ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
similar interventions, develop new ones and lift the promotion of men’s mental
health much higher up the agenda, both in the UK and abroad.
Alastair Campbell
Mind Champion 2009, author of All In The Mind
Spokesman and Chief Strategist to the Prime Minister, 1994–2003
March 2010
Foreword
Louis Appleby
Men’s health in general is poor in comparison to women’s. Male life expectancy at
birth in England is fi ve years less than women. Men are worse at using the health
service than women, and more likely to use anonymous sources of health advice like
websites. Our challenge is persuading men to take their health more seriously, and
to make better use of the services available.
We also know that men are three times more likely than women to take their
own lives. From the 1970s to the 1990s, whilst the suicide rate fell in older men and
in women it was rising in men under the age of 35. That is why, in developing our
national suicide prevention strategy, we made sure it included measures aimed at
young men. We set out to tackle risk factors such as depression; alcohol problems;
drug misuse; unemployment; family and relationship breakdown. The suicide rate
in men under 35 is now falling.
However, we still need to know more about why men fi nd it diffi cult to talk about
their problems; why they are more resistant to health promotion messages; and why
they were reluctant to seek help when in distress. We need to be more innovative in
the way we try to reach men. We can do this by moving out from more traditional
health settings – I have seen mental health teams working in sports halls and high
streets. Most importantly, we need to listen to what men, and young men in particu-
lar, are saying to us so that we can provide services that they will access when they
need them.
This book will help stimulate further discussion and hopefully encourage men to
seek help or support. It also highlights some positive work going on in the United
Kingdom and elsewhere which could be replicated further.
Professor Louis Appleby
National Clinical Director for Mental Health
March 2010
ix
