Young men are rarely out of the news but unfortunately, headlines and column inches are rarely positive. Despite an ever-growing public discourse about toxic masculinity, it’s only in recent times that conversation about men’s mental health is opening up.
The project
One significant research project led by Dr Nina Vaswani at Strathclyde’s Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ), used innovative research methods to better understand the mental health of young men aged between 16-24. And who better to explore these important themes than young men themselves?
The project, Men Minds, started in 2023 with the recruitment of 13 young men to co-produce the research. The recruitment process focused on marginalised young men from the LGBTQ+ community, the justice system and migrants. The group were originally tasked to undertake an in-depth exploration of innovation in mental health research over approximately 25 meeting sessions.
Genuine co-production was a priority for the work right from the start - the young men were actively involved in “owning” the project and shaping the research. As a result, it quickly became clear that a strong research focus on the barriers which prevent young men from accessing mental health support was also required.
There’s no question that that support is needed and needed now. Young men are more likely than young women to “act out” as way of expressing distress - they may do that through violence, exercise, substance use, anger or even suicide. In the Men Minds research, the group explored representations of young men, how masculine identities are shaped and how a combination of factors might affect behaviour, mental health and wellbeing. However, far from being just a fascinating talking shop, this work was specifically designed to influence policy and practice.
Issues of representation also emerged in the research - a prevailing and deep distrust of existing medical models was often expressed, as was as sense of feeling judged. But being able to speak to someone like you e.g. another young black man, or someone who has had similar life experiences, makes a huge difference to young men when it comes to opening up about mental health.
The project has been extraordinarily successful for the young men involved. Many had never set previously set foot inside a university, let alone participated in meaningful and relevant research. The adoption of true co-production values, including trauma-informed research, has resulted in outstanding input. Despite the massive diversity of experience from within the group, they have demonstrated a crucial finding which is that young men ARE willing to talk about their mental health but only when trust is built, and they can do so safely, in the right environment.
Ownership of the research is ongoing, as is belief in its power to make change. The group has already declared its ambition to visit the Scottish Parliament, to ask for policy commitment on young men’s mental health. They’re also looking to target more young men via influential people and organisations; to talk directly with boys in school; to develop a public information comic; and to establish a dialogue with health professionals who might not know how to talk mental health with young men.
There’s no doubt that these marvellous young men have already made waves when to comes to improving the way we all think about their mental health.