Young men’s mental health in crisis

22 July 2013 - The University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute has joined with the Young and Well CRC, Movember and beyondblue to declare it is 'game on' for tackling the mental health and wellbeing of young men aged 16 to 25, after their national survey revealed almost 20 percent of young men do not think their life is worth living. The first Young and Well National Survey , a scientific study of young men from across Australia, identified alarming statistics that suggest our current mental health system is failing young men, including: nearly one in five young men in the past 12 months have felt that life is hardly worth living nearly one in 10 young men having thought about taking their own life unemployment and moderate to very high levels of psychological distress predicting suicidal thoughts and behaviour 42 percent of young men experiencing psychological distress. On the positive side, the research also identifies new methods of engagement with young men via technology that matches their current usage and behaviour online, offering new hope for improving their mental health and wellbeing. Young men with 'moderate' to 'very high' levels of psychological distress were more likely to: talk about problems on the internet, with 66 percent finding it helpful use the internet to find information for a mental health, alcohol or other substance abuse problem (48 percent) 95 percent were 'somewhat' to 'very satisfied' with the information they received online young men who reported higher levels of psychological distress were more likely to access health information, listen to (or download/upload) music and play games with others on the internet.