In the lead up to RUOK? Day and World Mental
Health Day we are going to explore some of the key issues for young
people in relation to their mental health. In today's blog we are
going to explore some of the reasons why young guys are three times
less likely than females to access professional help when they
experience a mental health difficulty.
Kris Gesling, A Youth Ambassador for ReachOut.com gave an
amazing speech to an audience of corporate executives at the Young
Men's Breakfast briefing. A meeting of minds to create innovative
solutions to encourage
early help seeking amongst young males. His speech provides
some amazing insights into the social context that surrounds a
young guy's help seeking journey. Here is an excerpt from that
speech:
I'm just going to briefly talk to you about my
experiences as a young man growing up and how my friends dealt with
tough times. Then I want to look at why we're here and what we can
all do to make life easier for young men.
Young men are overwhelmingly represented when
it comes to mental illness and suicide.
But is that really any wonder when you look at how we deal with
our problems?
What did you do when you were in high school
or going through uni? Did you ever have hard times, and did you
ever talk to anyone about it? Or was it more your problem, not
theirs. Something you should be able to work out on your own. After
all, if you can't sort yourself out how are you meant to finish
school, get a degree, or even manage a company?
I've heard a lot of different things from my friends over the
years, like:
It can't be that bad, you'll be right.
Everyone gets sad, I'm fine
I don't have a problem, I'm just p***d off!
So when you hear stuff like this, you really have to look at what
might be lying underneath it all.
I like to think of myself as a pretty good listener, someone that
people can come to and talk about anything, but there's just
something different when it comes to your mates. It seems so easy
to just call up a friend and say "Look I'm having some problems can
I talk to you about it?", yet for most of us it's one of the most
difficult things to do, and I'm just as guilty as anyone. Just ask
any of my ex's they'll all tell you the same thing, "he just won't
talk".
I'm always there if one of my friends needs
help though, but pretty rarely will we just sit down and talk about
it. Instead we have different ways of indicating that things aren't
all great. Most of the time we just go kick the footy in the park,
and sometimes we don't really talk at all but you can tell that
something's going on and just being there and getting active helps
quite a lot.
When it gets really bad they'll turn up with a
bottle of Grants Scotch, not really something you want to drink
much of but that's when you know someone really needs to talk and
that you're in for a big night. It's probably not the best
strategy, and definitely not one I'd recommend to others but
sometimes it's what's needed.
So why can't we just ask for help, why do we
need a bottle of scotch before we can let others know what's
bothering us? And why do we need to wait until the scotch is
needed, until it's such a massive problem that we just can't ignore
it any longer?
We spend so much time going to the gym and
exercising to keep physically fit, why can't we spend just a little
time keeping mentally fit as well? Taking some time out for
ourselves is just one small thing that we can all do to go some way
to having a mentally aware and healthy society.
Sometimes the problem seems so massive that
it's hard to see how to tackle it, and although we've made some
great progress over the last decade there is still a long way to
go. Luckily there are amazing people who really care about this and
want to work together to make a difference, and I know this because
you're all here today.
Maybe it's my youthful ignorance, but I
don't think that changing the world is hard, you just have to
figure out the problem, find the right people, and then find the
right solutions.
Be part of the solution
As teachers we can play a key role in promoting early help
seeking for all students, but particularly for young guys. A key
barrier to help seeking for young males is the stigma
attached to mental illness. There are still many in society that
believe that experiencing mental health difficulties is a sign of
weakness, something to be embarrassed about. The sooner our society
can recognise that mental illness is not something to be
embarrassed about or hidden from others, the sooner we will give
young guys "permission" to ask others for help.
You will find a range of lesson ideas and teaching modules that tackle stigma
and support students to develop help seeking
skills. Why not try some out with your classes and see how they
go? If you do try them out, let us know how they go?
And, while you're at it, why not share some of the things you
are doing at your school to support students who may be
experiencing some difficulties. Come on, join the discussion
now!