Men’s Mental Health

Some men come to therapy because something specific has happened. Others have been carrying things for a long time, or recognise that the way they have been coping is no longer working.

Counselling can provide focused support around what is happening now, while psychotherapy can allow us to explore more deeply recurring patterns, relationships, emotional experiences and earlier experiences that may continue to influence the present.

In practice, the distinction is not always rigid. The work can move between both according to your needs, circumstances and what becomes important during therapy.

You do not need to decide whether you need counselling or psychotherapy before getting in touch.

There is no single way to be a man in 2026.

Ideas about masculinity continue to change, and men can find themselves navigating different and sometimes competing expectations around strength, vulnerability, relationships, work, fatherhood, providing, independence and emotional openness.

For some men, this can create uncertainty about what is expected of them and what being a good man, partner, father, friend or colleague actually means.

Therapy does not impose a definition of masculinity.

It provides space to examine the expectations you have inherited, the expectations you place on yourself and the kind of man you want to be.

Relationship difficulties and separation can have a significant impact on men’s mental health.

The loss may involve far more than the relationship itself. It can affect family life, connection with children, friendships, living arrangements, finances, identity, routine, social connection and the future you expected to have.

Some men have strong support networks around them. Others discover during a relationship breakdown that their partner had become their main source of emotional connection and that their wider support network has narrowed over time.

There may also be grief, anger, regret, uncertainty, conflict or questions about what happened and what comes next.

The significance of relationships is also reflected in Australian suicide data. In 2024, problems involving spousal relationships were recorded as a psychosocial risk factor in approximately one-quarter of male suicide deaths, and in almost one-third of male suicide deaths among those aged 25 to 44.

This does not mean that relationship breakdown causes suicide. Suicide is complex and generally involves multiple interacting factors. It does, however, highlight the importance that relationships, separation and interpersonal difficulties can have in men’s lives.

Counselling and psychotherapy can provide somewhere to work through both the practical and emotional consequences of relationship difficulties and separation, while also exploring relationship patterns, communication, attachment, boundaries and what you may want from relationships going forward.

For some men, asking for help can feel uncomfortable.

Messages about coping alone, being strong, not burdening other people or simply getting on with things can make it harder to acknowledge when support would be useful.

There can also be concern about how other people might respond, whether the problem is serious enough or whether talking about it will actually help.

Seeking support does not require you to abandon independence or hand responsibility for your life to somebody else.

It can be a deliberate decision to understand what is happening and use appropriate support rather than continuing to carry everything alone.

Sometimes the first step is simply having a conversation in which you do not need to pretend everything is fine.

Many men have become very capable at solving practical problems while having had fewer opportunities to develop language for emotional experiences.

You may know that you are angry, frustrated, stressed or simply not yourself without necessarily knowing what sits underneath it.

Developing emotional literacy is not about analysing every feeling or becoming endlessly introspective.

It is about becoming better able to recognise what you are experiencing, understand what may be contributing to it and decide how you want to respond.

Greater awareness of emotions can also help with communication, relationships, recognising when something is building and understanding when support may be useful.

Support can come from different places.

Partners, family, friends, colleagues, community, health professionals and mental health professionals can all form part of a person’s support network.

Part of looking after our mental health is recognising what support we already have, where the gaps may be and when additional support might be useful.

That can also mean becoming more comfortable accessing professional support before things reach crisis point.

Having support available matters.

Being willing and able to engage with it matters too.