New data has found that one in five men aged 50-75 ‘hardly ever or never’ thinks about their mental wellbeing, according a men’s mental health charity. For this research Ipsos , on behalf of the UK Men’s Sheds Association, interviewed 4,763 adults aged 18-75 in the UK – 1,205 of whom were men aged 50-75. In response to the findings, UK Men’s Sheds Association has partnered up with DRINKiQ on a new Men on a Mission campaign which encourages older men to open up and visit community initiatives such as Men’s Sheds.
We have spoken to some experts who have explained why men of this age often find it difficult to talk about their feelings. And they have also highlighted some key things that men can do to help improve their emotional wellbeing. Why do men over 50 often struggle to talk about their emotional wellbeing? “This is often due to learned behaviours of how to deal with emotions, as these men grew up in a time with more negative stigma around expressing emotions,” explains Lisa Gunn, mental health prevention lead and senior clinician at Nuffield Health.
“If men have learned to suppress and manage emotions in private, it can be difficult to know how to do anything different. “If there was no opportunity to learn how to healthily express how they think or feel, then it can be a hard skill to learn in older age.” What warnings signs might indicate that their mental wellbeing might need some attention? “The earliest warning sign for male mental health i.