Mental Health News: The week in men's mental health, 10 November 2026

Welcome to the first edition of Mental Health News, a weekly roundup from The Brotherhood. Each week we will gather the latest news and research on men's mental health, with a particular eye on Ireland and the UK, put it into plain language, and point you back to the original sources.

This is Movember, so it is no surprise that men's health is getting more airtime than usual. What stood out between 3 and 10 November was less the awareness messaging itself, and more the substance underneath it: a serious conversation in Leinster House about how community support for men is funded; new suicide figures from Scotland that still show a stark gap for men; research and reporting on new dads, discrimination and the way we talk about masculinity; and a reminder, from a man in Bristol, that walking through the door of a group can take more than one try.

Edition date: Tuesday 10 November 2026. Coverage: 3–10 November 2026.

1. Movember tells the Oireachtas a three-year funding commitment would overhaul men's mental health

Source: Irish Examiner | Published: Thursday 5 November 2026

Movember appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee last Thursday, in what the Irish Examiner reported as the charity's first appearance in front of committee members. Country director Sarah Ouellette told TDs and senators that 40.2% of men die prematurely before the age of 75, and that the vast majority of those deaths are preventable. Her argument was not only about encouraging men to speak up. It was about building and properly backing the kind of community support that men will actually use, and doing it early enough to make a difference.

Ouellette pointed to programmes that are already doing this work on thin resources, including the Men's Sheds network and CAIRDE2, the construction industry's suicide prevention outreach. Year-to-year funding is welcome, she said, but a longer horizon would let proven organisations plan, keep staff, and scale what works. "Moving from annual funding to a three-year horizon gives proven community organisations the certainty to plan, retain capacity and scale what works. Crucially, in terms of value for public money, it provides a meaningful period in which to measure outcomes and build evidence."

The Examiner also reported a worrying picture of how the public sees young men in Ireland: half of Irish adults believe this group are becoming more isolated, and 62% say young men struggle to find purpose in Irish society today. Nicola Byrne of Shine told the committee that the challenge "is not simply to encourage men to talk more." When they do, she said, they need to be met with understanding, the right support, and a genuine chance to recover.

Dr Joseph Duffy of the youth mental health organisation Jigsaw said about 13% of young males aged 15 to 19 in Ireland are experiencing poor mental health. Jigsaw's overall referrals, for both young men and young women, have risen by 35% during 2026. Young men, he said, rarely arrive with one neat issue. They more often present with a mix of anxiety, low mood, thoughts of suicide and self-harm, substance use, isolation, family and relationship difficulties, and questions about identity and masculinity, with a notable rise in neurodevelopmental difficulties such as autism, ADHD and other learning difficulties. The surge in demand is concerning, he added, but it can also point to less stigma and more willingness to seek help. What is needed now, in his view, is more investment, better joined-up services, and a sharper focus on early support, especially for young men.

Why it matters for men: A lot of the support that actually reaches men in Ireland happens in ordinary places: sheds, workplaces, sports clubs, walking groups. This hearing is a reminder that those spaces need more than goodwill and a once-a-year funding scramble. If you work with young men, or you are a young man finding it hard to see a way forward, the message from the committee room was that isolation and a lack of purpose are being taken seriously, and that asking for help is increasingly common, not rare.

2. Scotland's latest suicide figures show a slight fall, but men remain three times more likely to die

Sources: Samaritans Scotland and Suicide Prevention Scotland | Published: Tuesday 3 November 2026

National Records of Scotland figures, published on 3 November, show 703 deaths by probable suicide were registered in Scotland in 2025. That is one fewer than the 704 deaths registered in 2024. Samaritans Scotland and Suicide Prevention Scotland both stressed that a fall of one is no comfort to the families left behind, while also noting a longer downward trend. There was an 11% reduction between 2023 and 2024, and 703 deaths is below the five-year average of 742 (2021–2025). The rate in 2025 was 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people aged 10 and over, the same as in 2024, and the two most recent years have the lowest rates since 2017.

The gap for men has not gone away. Suicide Prevention Scotland said men's suicide rates remain three times higher than women's, as they have been since records began in 1994, with the male rate ranging from 2.6 to 3.7 times the female rate. There is a slightly more hopeful note in the recent fall: the decrease over the last two years has been driven by fewer deaths among men, with 67 fewer men dying by suicide than in 2023, compared with 19 fewer women. The average age of death has been rising over time, from 42 in 2000 to 48.2 in 2025. In 2025, rates were highest among people aged 45 to 64 (19.9 per 100,000), then those aged 25 to 44 (16.8), and lowest among those aged 10 to 24 (6.1).

Inequality remains a hard part of this story. Samaritans Scotland reported that in 2025 the rate of probable suicide in Scotland's most deprived areas was 2.7 times higher than in the least deprived areas, up from 2.5 times in 2024. Commenting on the same figures, SAMH chief executive Billy Watson said men and people living in poverty are around three times more likely to die by suicide, and called on the Scottish Government to raise national suicide prevention funding to at least £6 million a year. Neil Mathers, executive director of Samaritans Scotland, said suicide prevention needs to stay fully supported and funded, "at the same time as tackling the issues and inequalities that contribute to people feeling like they have no other option but to end their own life."

Why it matters for men: These are Scotland's numbers, but the pattern will be familiar in Ireland and across the UK: men, especially in midlife and in poorer areas, still carry the heaviest share of suicide deaths. A small national fall is welcome, and it shows change is possible, but it is not a reason to ease off. If you are doing it hard just now, particularly if money, work or isolation is part of what you are carrying, you are not a statistic, and you do not have to wait until things get worse to talk to someone.

3. It took three attempts to walk in: Andy's Man Club "probably saved my life"

Source: BBC News | Published: Tuesday 10 November 2026

In a report published today, BBC News spoke to Liam Powell, who now leads the Andy's Man Club group in Knowle West, Bristol. Andy's Man Club is a suicide prevention charity that runs free weekly support groups for men, with no pressure to talk if you would rather just listen. Powell told the BBC it took him three attempts to walk through the door. Three years on, he is the one opening it for other men.

"I think the charity probably saved my life. It gave me somewhere that I could go every week to openly discuss my emotions, my problems," he said. "It has given me confidence, and a voice for when I'm struggling." Powell said he had lived with "really bad bouts of mental health" for much of his life after his family moved from Liverpool when he was a child. He struggled to settle in a small village near Knowle and was bullied for his Scouse accent. He looked for support through the NHS and private care, and last year received an ADHD diagnosis, which he said helped answer "a lot" of questions he had about his struggles.

He was clear that the group "doesn't fix all the problems." What it does offer is a regular, safe place to be honest. "What you realise when [you're] sat in that room with like-minded men is that you're not alone. There's no pressure to talk, there's no pressure on anything. It's just to come and listen and if you feel comfortable [to speak as well]." A spokesperson for Changes Bristol, a local mental health charity, told the BBC that groups like this are "an important place for people to cope with negative feelings," especially for people who find it hard to talk to friends, family or colleagues.

Why it matters for men: A lot of men will recognise the part about needing more than one go. Turning up is often the hardest bit, and it is all right if the first attempt is just getting as far as the door. Powell's story is a useful counter to the idea that you have to have your words perfectly worked out, or that a group has to "fix" you. Sometimes the win is a weekly room where you are not the only one finding life heavy, and where you can listen until you are ready to speak.

4. Hampshire and Northamptonshire councils use Movember to point men towards local support

Sources: Hampshire County Council and the Northampton Chronicle & Echo | Published: Wednesday 4 November 2026

Two English council campaigns landed at the start of the week, both using Movember and Men's Mental Health Month to do something practical: remind men that support is already there, and that it does not have to start with a crisis.

In Hampshire, the county council urged men to take "one small step" for their mental wellbeing, whether the pressure is coming from stress, relationships, parenthood, work, money, bereavement or a big life change. Through its Mental Wellbeing Hampshire site, it is pointing residents to free advice on stress, sleep, staying connected and building resilience, and to a dedicated Men's Mental Wellbeing Toolkit that brings together conversation starters, NHS self-help resources, crisis information and local services aimed at men. Simon Bryant, Hampshire's director of public health, said: "Movember is a useful reminder to check in with ourselves and with the people around us. Even small actions, such as talking to a friend, getting active or reaching out for support, can have a positive impact. We want men across Hampshire to know that help is available and that they don't have to face life's challenges alone."

In Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council jointly marked the month by highlighting local services and challenging the stigma around asking for help. Among the initiatives being promoted is the Orange Button Community Scheme, which trains members of the public to recognise distress and have supportive conversations with people who may be having suicidal thoughts. The councils are also pointing to the county's refreshed Suicide Prevention Strategy, and to a campaign called Males Across Northamptonshire Share Their Mental Health Experiences, in which local residents talk about their own lives to make it easier for others to do the same. Councillor Laura Couse, West Northamptonshire's cabinet member for adult care and public health, said nobody should feel they have to struggle alone, and that "You don't have to wait until things become overwhelming before asking for help."

Why it matters for men: You do not have to live in Hampshire or Northamptonshire for this to land. The useful idea is a modest one: look up what is already on your doorstep, and take one small step before things get on top of you. That might be a walk with a mate, a toolkit or a conversation, a local group, or a phone call. Getting active and staying connected are not a cure-all, but they are a start, and they are the kind of steps many men will take more readily than booking a formal appointment.

5. A national conversation on male suicide comes to Middlesbrough

Source: Hits Radio Teesside | Published: Monday 9 November 2026

On Monday, the research-led charity Action on Male Suicide brought one of its UK-wide National Conversations to the Acklam Green Centre in Middlesbrough. Hits Radio reported that the free, full-day event brought together local residents, people with lived experience, charities, health professionals, emergency services, community organisations, policymakers and researchers. The aim was to take what is known about male suicide out of universities and into the community, and to ask what needs to change locally.

The charity, and the coverage, framed male suicide as a public health crisis: in almost every country, men die by suicide at higher rates than women. The North East, Hits Radio noted, had the highest suicide rate of any English region in 2024. The Middlesbrough day was led by male suicide researcher and Action on Male Suicide founder Dr Susie Bennett, whose work has explored the experiences of thousands of men around the world who have been suicidal. "For years, my work has been driven by one question: why do so many men reach a point where death can feel like their only option?" she said. "We have learned an enormous amount by listening to men who have been suicidal, but that knowledge cannot remain inside universities and academic journals. It needs to reach the people who can actually use it."

Two voices from the event cut through the policy language. Mark Gallagher, a living experience advisor to the charity who recently survived a suicide attempt, said: "Real suicide prevention isn't awareness days, hashtags, or kind slogans. It's proactive support. It's patience for messy recovery. It's compassion that continues after the spotlight fades. It's professionals and communities reaching in, not waiting for the most broken people to reach out again and again." Paula, who lost her 19-year-old son to suicide, said the pain of that loss is indescribable, and harder still because she believes his death was preventable. "Reducing male suicide is not only the responsibility of men themselves; it is also the responsibility of society, public institutions and services."

Why it matters for men: This is the other side of the funding conversation in Ireland earlier in the week. Research only helps if it reaches the places men actually live and the people around them. Gallagher's point about "reaching in" is a good one for mates, colleagues, coaches and families: do not wait for a man to make a perfect, formal ask. And Paula's words are a hard reminder that this is not only a private struggle. Services, workplaces and communities have a part to play too.

6. New dads' mental health is put in the spotlight

Source: University of Kent, via MedicalXpress | Published: Monday 9 November 2026

This week the University of Kent put a spotlight on the mental health of fathers and partners, through a feature on the work of Dr Sharin Baldwin, a nurse, midwife and health visitor and an honorary research fellow at the university's Centre for Health Services Studies. The feature, published on 9 November, draws on her mixed-methods systematic review in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, published earlier in 2026, which looked at community-based support for fathers from pregnancy through the first year after birth.

The university's write-up notes that the mental health of fathers and partners can be overlooked during the move into parenthood, yet depression and anxiety are twice as common among expecting and new fathers as global estimates for men more generally. In the feature, Baldwin says at least one in 10 men experiences mental health problems during the perinatal period, "yet fathers' needs are often overlooked." Her earlier PhD work, The New Dad Study, also informed Invisible, a short film made with fathers and partners, following a new dad named Luke.

The review itself brought together 19 papers from 18 studies across 11 countries, covering peer support, group programmes, home visiting, and digital or phone-based support. On standard measures of depression and anxiety, the results were mixed and often modest. Home-visiting programmes looked the most promising, though still inconsistent. What came through much more clearly, especially when fathers talked about their own experience, were other kinds of benefit: feeling less isolated; having a non-judgemental place to talk; growing in confidence and in their sense of themselves as dads; bonding more with their baby; communicating better with their partner; and leaving with more knowledge and coping strategies. The review also found no UK-based intervention studies that met its inclusion criteria, a gap the authors say needs serious evaluation, not an assumption that nothing is happening on the ground.

Why it matters for men: Becoming a dad is a huge life change, and it is still too easy for the focus to stay entirely on mum and baby while the man in the room is asked if he is "doing all right" in passing. If you are expecting a child, or in the first year of fatherhood, struggling does not mean you are failing at the role. Connection, a bit of practical support, and being treated as a parent in your own right can matter as much as a formal diagnosis. Partners, health visitors and friends can help by asking dads a real question, and leaving space for an honest answer.

7. New US study traces a path from discrimination to depression in African American men

Source: Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities | Published: Wednesday 4 November 2026

A new open-access study, published on 4 November, looks at how everyday discrimination is linked to depressive symptoms among African American men, and what might sit in the middle of that relationship. Qais Alemi and colleagues at Loma Linda University and California State University-East Bay surveyed 207 African American men in New York City and southern California. The data were gathered in 2018, around community and faith groups and men's health fairs; the paper has now been published in 2026. Because the study is cross-sectional, it can show links, not prove cause and effect.

Nearly 94% of the men reported at least one discriminatory experience in the previous 12 months, most commonly being treated with less courtesy. After accounting for marital status, income stability and region, perceived discrimination was significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms. Some of that relationship ran through lower self-esteem: men who reported more discrimination also tended to report poorer self-esteem, and poorer self-esteem was in turn linked with more depressive symptoms. The authors describe this as a modest, partial mediation, not the whole story.

The team also looked at John Henryism, a high-effort coping style built around determination, hard work and pushing through. Among men with lower or moderate levels of this coping style, the link between discrimination and poorer self-esteem was clearer. Among those with high John Henryism, that particular link was not statistically significant. The authors say this may mean that kind of determined coping can buffer the blow to self-esteem, at least in the short term, but they are careful: the overall test of whether this pathway to depression changes with John Henryism was not significant, and previous research has also suggested that pushing through at all costs can take a toll over time. Their conclusion is that discrimination is a real risk to African American men's mental health, that self-esteem is one of the ways it can get under the skin, and that support needs to take culturally specific coping seriously, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all model.

Why it matters for men: This is US research, but the wider point travels. Being treated unfairly, repeatedly, can wear down how a man sees himself, and that can feed low mood. "Just work harder" can help some men get through a hard season, and it can also leave others exhausted and less likely to ask for help. If racism, exclusion or everyday slights are part of what you are carrying, that is not a small thing, and you should not have to deal with it only by toughing it out.

8. This week, a closer look at how psychology measures masculinity

Source: PsyPost | Published: Tuesday 10 November 2026

PsyPost today published a detailed account of a systematic scoping review in the journal Men and Masculinities, by Peter Fisher of the Movember Institute of Men's Health and colleagues, including Zac Seidler and Simon Rice. The review itself appeared earlier in 2026. It examined 65 widely used questionnaires designed to measure masculinity, dating from 1974 into the early 2020s, and asked a blunt question: what, exactly, have these tools been set up to find?

The short answer is, mostly problems. Across the 65 instruments, 78% took a deficit-based approach, focusing on negative traits and harmful outcomes, while 22% included at least some strengths-based elements, and even that bar was set low. Among the 12 most-cited questionnaires, three-quarters were deficit-based. Many tools also paid little attention to social context or culture: 43% had a low "relational" focus, meaning they did not specify whose expectations or which setting a man was meant to have in mind, and 58% did not account for cultural norms at all. Two-thirds were tested on fairly homogeneous groups of people, often a narrow slice of the population. Most of the scales were reasonably consistent in a statistical sense, but only 9% had strong evidence that their results hold up in wider populations.

The authors, whose work was funded by Movember, and four of whom are Movember employees, are not arguing that research into harm, violence or rigid gender rules should stop. They are arguing that if the field's main tools are built to detect damage, they will keep finding damage, and that this can shape public health messages in ways that put some men on the defensive. PsyPost also quotes independent researchers who make a similar point: if a questionnaire only asks about harmful attitudes and behaviours, it will mainly reveal harmful attitudes and behaviours, and everyday labels such as "toxic masculinity" can end up doing a lot of work they were never carefully designed to do.

Why it matters for men: Plenty of men already feel that the public conversation about masculinity only shows up when something has gone wrong. This review does not pretend there are no risks in narrow ideas of what a man "should" be. It does suggest we would learn more, and perhaps reach more men, if research and health messages could also take seriously the parts of men's lives that are about care, responsibility, friendship and showing up for other people. That is closer to how many men in communities like The Brotherhood already understand strength.

Coming up

To mark International Men's Day on 19 November, HSE Health and Wellbeing, together with the Men's Development Network, South East Technological University and the Men's Health Forum in Ireland, is hosting a free men's health webinar on Tuesday 17 November, from 12pm to 1pm. Speakers will include people from SETU, Tosú, Lads & Dads and Movember, with an interview with Mayo's All-Ireland-winning manager Andy Moran. If you work in health, community or sport, or you simply want a sense of what is happening around men's health in Ireland just now, it is a good place to listen in.

If you need support

If any of this has landed close to home, you do not have to sit with it on your own. In Ireland and the UK, Samaritans are available day and night on 116 123. The call is free, confidential, and you can talk about whatever is going on. In Ireland, Pieta can also be reached on 1800 247 247, and you can find men's mental health supports, including information on counselling, at yourmentalhealth.ie/men. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.

We will be back next week with the next edition. In the meantime, check in on the men around you, and let them check in on you.