The beginning of November marked the start of Movember, the month-long fundraising campaign that uses ‘the moustache’ as a catalyst to change the face of men’s health. Last year, for the first time in Canada, the Movember Foundation included men’s mental health, in addition to prostate and testicular cancer, as a key focal area in their campaign. As a result, current Movember Foundation grants have surpassed the total amount of money devoted by all levels of the Canadian government to targeted mental health programs for men.
The hairy truth about Canadian men’s mental health:
- Mental health issues affect over 3.4 million Canadian men and boys each year
- Over 75 percent of the Canadians who die by suicide are men
- Mental health issues are the second largest threat to male health after accidents.
- Only 30 percent of Canadians who seek mental health treatment are men
- When men seek professional help it is often late in the illness process and many men experience difficulty articulating their concerns to clinicians
Please visit Movember Canada’s website for more information about men’s and mental health as well as how the they are supporting mental health in Canada and around the world.