Movember research shows that 60% of men don’t share how they're feeling with anyone

It's not exactly breaking news that men aren't the best when it comes to talking about their feelings. It's an old cliché that spans hundreds of years - men are supposed to be stoic, unemotional figures who keep it together in order to lead others towards success or out of danger.

But, of course, we all know this is a false picture. Men are just as emotional and fragile as our female counterparts, we're just typically not as good at talking about it.

In fact, new research commissioned by the men's health charity Movember has revealed that six in ten men answered that they never share how they are feeling with anyone.

There's a whole myriad of reasons which prevent our men from speaking up when they're feeling low but the top three were shown to be due to feeling embarrassed, not knowing whom to speak to and not being able to find the right words.

This high percentage of men who are repressing their emotions is particularly worrying when you consider that globally a man dies by suicide every minute. Let that statistic sink for a moment.

Closer to home, in Ireland three out of four suicides are male. And, as if decades of toxic masculinity and stigma around men's mental health weren't enough, it seems the Covid-19 pandemic has only made things even worse with 63 per cent of 18-24 year olds answering that the pandemic had a negative impact on their mental health.

62 per cent of 35-44 year old men also felt the pandemic negatively impacted their mental well-being.

In light of these worrying figures, Movember is once again raising funds to help tackle men's mental health issues and suicide prevention, as well as the two other biggest health issues for men - testicular cancer and prostate cancer.

This year they've enlisted a crew of 'Mo Bro Ambassadors' to help rally troops and shake some pockets including All Ireland GAA winner Cathal McShane (Tyrone), Olympic boxer Emmet Brennan, celebrity chef Eoin Sheehan and Christian Hoey of Dublin's Sam's Barbers.

As well as encouraging Irish men to check in with their friends to see how they're doing mentally, they'll also be helping to lead education campaigns on how to self-examine your testicles for signs of testicular cancer as nearly half (47 per cent) of males surveyed reveal they don't know how.

This year, supporters are invited to get involved by either growing a moustache, moving 60km in the month, hosting an event or taking some sort of epic challenge. It could be climbing a mountain, learning a ballroom dance or completing some sort of intellectual feat - if it's something worth sponsoring, you can do it.

To find out more about Movember and to sign up to take part in this year's campaign, click here.

Topics: Ireland

Gary Grimes

Gary Grimes is a sometimes journalist and sometimes publicist, originally from Sligo but usually in London. When he’s not PRing everything from gin to sex toys, he’s usually covering music, photography and pop culture topics for titles including Interview Magazine, The Face, Huck Magazine and Dummy. When he’s doing neither of those things, he’s probably rewatching weeks of Big Brother 2005 on YouTube or explaining to someone why Paris Hilton is a genius. Reach him at [email protected]

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