Our member Philip Karahassan says he鈥檚 delighted that men鈥檚 attitudes towards mental health and therapy are changing.

But Philip says there鈥檚 still a lot to do to encourage men to take the step to see a counsellor or psychotherapist.

He was commenting on our new statistics today released for International Men鈥檚 Day and Men鈥檚 Mental Health Awareness Month that show 87% of men think mental health has a higher public profile than five years ago. 82% of men say it鈥檚 a good idea to seek counselling or psychotherapy for a problem before it gets out of hand.

Changing attitudes

Philip said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great that men鈥檚 attitudes to mental health are changing. I started as a therapist seven years ago and it鈥檚 definitely changing 鈥� more men are coming to therapy now.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great. If we鈥檙e not able to talk to people about what we鈥檙e going through in our lives, our thoughts, our feelings, then we鈥檙e going to be stagnant and unable to look forward.

鈥淭herapy gives space to open up and explore why we鈥檙e doing the things we鈥檙e doing, if they鈥檙e the best thing for us and what we actually want for ourselves.鈥�

The figures are from our Public Perceptions Survey, which was carried out with YouGov. We found:

  • 87% of men think mental health has a higher public profile than five years ago
  • 79% of men say it鈥檚 more socially acceptable to discuss mental health than five years ago
  • 78% of men say it鈥檚 more commonplace to discuss mental health than five years ago
  • 82% of men say it鈥檚 a good idea to seek counselling or psychotherapy for a problem before it gets out of hand
  • 70% of men say people might be happier if they talked to a counsellor or psychotherapist about their problems
  • 68% of men say it鈥檚 better for people to talk to someone about their problems rather than to take medication
  • 60% of men say they鈥檇 feel comfortable talking about their own mental health with a counsellor/ psychotherapist

However, our survey also found that fewer men (27%) have sought help from a counsellor or psychotherapist compared to women (38%).

Higher profile

Philip, a psychotherapist and founder of , said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 still work to do but awareness campaigns are great for breaking down stigmas and barriers.

鈥淭he fact that 87% of men think mental health has a higher public profile than five years ago is brilliant, because it makes it more acceptable for men to seek support.

鈥淲e see more men in the media and popular culture going to therapy. The taboo isn鈥檛 as great as it used to be.

鈥淎nd if it helps one person seek support rather than not, then it鈥檚 worked as far as I鈥檓 concerned.鈥�

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