14/06/2026
Men's Health Week runs from 15 to 21 June each year. This post looks at why men's mental health still doesn't get the attention it deserves, what the warning signs actually look like, and what you can do if things aren't sitting right.
Why Men Still Don't Ask for Help
The numbers are hard to ignore. Men make up more than 75% of all su***de deaths in Australia. That's not a small gap. And yet research from the RACGP shows that men are about half as likely as women to see a GP or health professional for their mental health.
That gap doesn't exist because men are fine. It exists because a lot of men have been taught, in pretty direct ways, that struggling is something to push through quietly.
I work with men regularly in my counselling practice. One of the most common things I hear, especially from men who've finally decided to come in, is some version of: "I probably should have done this sooner." The barrier isn't usually a lack of awareness. It's years of telling themselves they should be able to handle it.
What Men's Mental Health Actually Looks Like
Depression and anxiety don't always look the same in men as they do in women. Around 1 in 8 men will experience depression and 1 in 5 will experience anxiety at some point in their lives, according to data cited by the University of Queensland. But a lot of men don't recognise what they're dealing with as depression or anxiety, because it doesn't match what they expected.
For many men, it shows up as irritability. Anger. A shorter fuse than usual. Sometimes it looks like withdrawal pulling back from friends, family, or things they used to enjoy. Sometimes it's just a persistent flatness that's hard to name.
It can also show up physically. Poor sleep, unexplained fatigue, changes in appetite or weight. These aren't always signs of a physical health problem. Sometimes they're the body signalling that something else is off.
Warning Signs Worth Knowing About
Whether you're thinking about yourself or someone close to you, these are worth paying attention to:
Withdrawal from people or social situations that used to feel normal. Big changes in how someone is performing at work, or sudden mood swings that seem out of character. Increased irritability, anger, or a tendency to snap at small things. Losing interest in hobbies or activities that used to matter. Physical changes that don't have a clear medical explanation.
None of these signs means something is definitely wrong. But if several of them are showing up together, or if they've been going on for a while, that's worth taking seriously.
If you're worried about a mate, you don't need to have a perfect script. Asking directly whether they're okay, and then actually waiting for the answer, is more useful than most people think.
Does Men's Health Week Actually Change Anything?
This is a fair question to ask.
Awareness weeks can feel a bit surface-level. A few posts, some statistics shared around, and then things go back to normal. I get the scepticism.
But weeks like Men's Health Week do serve a practical function. They give people a reason to have a conversation they might not otherwise have. They remind blokes that it's not just them. And they put credible resources in front of people who might be quietly looking for them.
The organisations running these campaigns in Australia like MensLine and Beyond Blue aren't just posting content. They're running phone lines, online support, and real services. MensLine (1300 78 99 78) is free and available 24/7. Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) operates the same way. These are real options, not just logos on a flyer.
What I've Noticed Working With Men
I've been working in the support sector since 2018 and in private counselling practice for some time now. One thing that comes up often is the timing of when men eventually reach out.
Most men I see didn't reach a crisis point and then decide to get support. They sat with things for months, sometimes years, before they made an appointment. The trigger is usually something concrete: a relationship that's strained, a health scare, a situation at work. The underlying stuff was there long before.
That pattern isn't unique to the men I work with. It reflects something broader about how men are socialised to relate to their own mental health. The problem with waiting for a concrete trigger is that by then, things are often harder to work through than they needed to be.
That's not a judgment. It's just what I see.
People Also Ask: Is counselling different for men?
Not in a clinical sense. The skills and approaches a counsellor uses don't change based on the gender of the person in the room.
What does sometimes differ is how men approach sessions, especially early on. Some men find a structured, problem-focused approach more comfortable at first. Some take a few sessions to open up. That's fine. Good counselling meets people where they are.
What men often find, once they're in a few sessions, is that talking through things with someone who isn't a family member or a colleague is actually useful in a way they didn't expect. That's not a universal outcome, but it's a common one.
What to Do If Things Don't Feel Right
You don't have to be in crisis to reach out. That's something a lot of men get wrong about counselling. It's not a last resort. It's a practical option for when something isn't working and you want to sort it out.
Mental health is worth taking as seriously as physical health. If you had a persistent pain in your knee, you wouldn't just leave it for two years and hope it resolved. The same logic applies here.
If you're based in Cairns or anywhere in Australia, I offer sessions in person and via telehealth. If you'd like to talk about whether counselling is the right fit for what you're dealing with, you can get in touch through the contact page on the Strong Foundation Support website.
There's also more information on men's counselling in Cairns and individual counselling on the site if you want to read more first.
https://www.strongfoundationsupport.com/blog
Allan Bunyan, CPCA counsellor at Strong Foundation Support, Cairns. Allan works with adults and young people aged 14 and over, in person in Cairns and via telehealth across Australia.
