Session 71: A men's mental health podcast with a hug!
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24377/studentexp3336Abstract
Session overview
Men typically make up 75% of suicide deaths in the UK; in England, the highest suicide rate is among males aged 45–49, with 25.3 per 100,000 (ONS, 2024). Men are less likely to seek treatment for their mental health (Mind, 2020) and just 36% of all NHS referrals for psychological therapy are for men (Mental Health UK, 2024). It is also important to consider the concerning data that, in the context of poor mental health outcomes, 90% of individuals sleeping on the streets in England are men over the age of 26 who are from the United Kingdom (Housing and Communities, 2024) and that proportionally men make up to 96% of the total prison population (HM Prison and Probation Service, 2024).
The Man Hug podcast began in early 2023 and it became a medium to capture the essence of these discussions to encourage men to talk. The podcast has three aims:
- Provide a platform for men with lived experience to share their mental health stories.
- Showcase the network of support that exists to help and support men
- Normalise the experience of talking about mental health to tackle the stigma associated with it.
As hosts of the podcast, we are determined to demonstrate that poor mental health affects all men across class, demographic, and cultural lines, and that, by talking, our guests demonstrate positive male role models – and that it’s good to talk. To date, the podcast has addressed various themes such as addiction, grief, loneliness, suicide, neurodiversity, and memories. Following an evaluation the podcast is proving to be a useful educational tool for students and staff to enhance knowledge about mental health and to improve signposting.
Key learning points from this session:
- How Podcasts can be used to enhance knowledge
- The power of Lived Experience (Experts by Experience)
- How staff and students can signpost people to the right mental health support.
A men's mental health podcast with a hug! PowerPoint. Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Dean McShane, Conleth Kelly, Ian Pierce Hayes
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