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Healthcare | Leadership & Communication | Social Policy

Engaging the disengaged – how to protect the mental health of young men

10 Oct 2024, by Amy Sarcevic

Adolescence is a crucial period of psychosocial development, but one which is increasingly marred by mental health challenges.

Around the world, one in seven 10-19-year-olds lives with a mental health disorder, and this accounts for 13 percent of the disease burden for this age category.

While recognition – a prerequisite for intervention – is now improving, one demographic within this age group is particularly hard to treat and engage.

Teenage boys are at greater risk of severe consequences from mental ill-health, and are more likely to attempt suicide than girls of the same age.

Louise Edmonds, a survivor advocate who founded Men of Manners is an expert on this issue.

Having worked as a journalist and men’s lifestyle writer for the last fourteen years, Ms Edmonds says a series of worrying trends have created the ‘perfect storm’ for male mental health problems.

Absent fathers

“Young boys need good role models, but in Australia and around the world we have a culture of absent fathers,” said Ms Edmonds.

“This is, in part, due to high divorce rates, and fathers who are totally out of the picture. But it’s also a product of working culture. Even fully involved fathers can be emotionally absent when they get home from work, because they are exhausted.”

This – combined with the increasingly easy access to explicit online content – are a breeding ground for both toxic masculinity and mental ill-health.

“You have influencers, like Andrew Tate, who post sickening, misogynistic content, and it is leading some young boys astray – particularly those who don’t have positive male role models at home.

“It’s obvious that without a positive role model, boys will seek ‘how to become men’ online, and with clever social search engine, anyone can hijack these questions and corrupt young minds.”

Undiagnosed trauma

As revealed by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Childhood Sexual Abuse, young men are also exposed to issues like family and domestic violence, at a comparable rate to young women.

Unlike girls, who tend to be more expressive, boys often hide their experiences, and this can result in undiagnosed trauma.

“We know that women speak on average 7000 words a day, while men speak just 700. Men are fundamentally less conversational – and in the context of trauma, that can be harmful.

“[Additionally], the guilt and shame around sexual abuse, is horrendous. In turn, this silences men and boys causing their undiagnosed trauma to fester into future problems.

“If boys and men aren’t confiding in anyone about what’s going on, the trauma can build up and cause all sorts of issues.”

Biopsychosocial differences

Biopsychosocial differences are also evident at kindergarten and early primary school-age boys but, according to Ms Edmonds, the education system does not reflect that.

“Very young boys need to be as physical as possible, not sitting still in a kindergarten or early primary school classroom. That environment is very difficult for them.

“They often try really hard, but as we have just one curriculum and one way of learning, it puts them into a box they aren’t the right shape or size for.”

Ms Edmonds says this gives boys a suboptimal start to their education, causing more serious issues down the track.

“We know that boys underperform in relation to girls at school. And research shows that career and financial health play an enormous role in the mental health of young men,” she said.

Turning to the East for inspiration

Ms Edmonds says efforts to improve outcomes for young men should address these root causes, such as overhauling the early education system.

She draws comparisons with Eastern nations, like Japan, in which outdoor activity is often given equal priority to indoor learning.

“One Japanese preschool I came across in my research is literally built around a tree, with a ramp going all the way around it. Children get to run around the tree every day and let off steam – at the same time getting access to nature.

“Obviously it’s a creative example, but we could be incorporating more of these sorts of activities here in Australia and giving boys (and girls) a better start to their education.”

Ms Edmonds also highlights how mandatory Taekwondo lessons in Korea have spurred a range of benefits for young people.

“It’s amazing for their bodies and is an intentional and channelled outlet for aggression.

“But it also has a beautiful philosophy – it’s connected to nature and literature. And young people feel a sense of pride when they master it.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there are significantly lower rates of crime in Korea.”

Curbing e-sport and internet addiction

Ms Edmonds also highlights the damaging effects of e-sport and internet addiction, a problem that particularly afflicts young men.

“We know that gaming spikes dopamine in the brain and that too much is associated with aggression and depression.

“Again this highlights the need for a better outlet for things like risk-taking, which is something young men are often drawn to. Physical and social activities that satisfy these needs, but in a healthier way.”

In a similar vein, Ms Edmonds says young men also need help to tap into their natural strengths and find purpose in their lives.

“Young men need direction. Every single one of them has a gift that they can share with the world – they just need mentors and guardians to help bring that out,” she concluded.

Join the debate

Sharing more insights from her decade long career in men’s research, Louise Edmonds will present at the upcoming Children & Young People at Risk Summit, hosted by Informa Connect.

This year’s event will be held 19-20 November 2024 at the Rendezvous Melbourne.

Register your tickets here.

About Louise Edmonds

Louise Edmonds – Granddaughter of Australian boxing great Tommy Burns – is Founder of men’s lifestyle site MenStylePower and Men of Manners – an online academy teaching young male teens the moral and ethical code.

As a survivor of child sex abuse, assault and domestic violence, Edmonds is well-placed to speak about these complex and important social issues.

She has contributed her lived experience story to Harpers Bazaar, The Daily Telegraph, Primer Magazine (interview by Jess Hill), Smart Daily, Nine Honey, Mamamia, The Australian, SMH and other media outlets, raising awareness that there are survivors who are powerfully challenging the system.

Alongside her own publication, Edmonds has also written for acclaimed International publications and is a founding member of the Independent Collective of Survivors (ICOS), Australian Women against Violence Australia (AWAVA) and inKind partner working to cease child trafficking.

 

 

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