News

Fear of shame or feeling ‘weak’ is deterring young men from seeking help for mental health problems – and when they do ask for help, many are not getting it.

A survey involving 1 068 young men aged 14 to 21 (including 801 aged 14 to 18) found that 46% would not ask for help for a problem that was making them upset, anxious, or depressed – ‘even if things got really bad’.

When asked why, the research, which was conducted in October 2021, found that:

The UK survey by youth mental health charity Stem4 also shows that many young men do not receive support when they ask for it.

Thirty-seven per cent said they were currently experiencing mental health difficulties. Of these, 51% had not spoken to anyone, 21% were receiving treatment, and 29% had asked for help but were not receiving treatment.

The most prevalent mental health difficulties reported in the survey were stress (47%), anxiety (27%), and depression or low mood (33%). Other common problems included eating disorders (11%), anger and behavioural issues (10%) and self-harm behaviours (9%).