Mens Health Week 2026

This week is Men’s Health week here in the UK. It’s an annual event organised by Men’s Health Forum that raises awareness of issues facing men’s health and encourages positive action.

I’ve written in the past about the persistent challenges we have with mens mental health (Mens Mental Health in 2025 and What about Men?) but where are we at the moment?

According to some recent research from BUPA

• 50% of men have struggled with mental health difficulties at some point, but less than half have reached out to their GP.

• 37% of UK men have actively hidden mental health issues from their partners.

• 65% of employees believe that stigma around men’s mental health ‘remains strong.’

Just a few snippets, but goodness me if that doesn’t make grim reading. We’re still a long way from binning that outdated “man up” that gets in the way of healthy expressions of emotions and asking for help if we need to.

The “manosphere” is still poisoning kids from an early age and taking advantage of vulnerable men who could use better support. While there’s been (rightly) a lot of criticism of the UK government’s recent blunderbuss decision to ban under 16s from social media, perhaps the furore will force the government into taking more reasonable action and introduce proper regulation to protect the vulnerable from these toxic hatemongers.

It’s also heartening to see more varied depictions of men and how men “should” behave in our media and that’s an important change. Things like the new Masters of the Universe film and Superman film from last year are happily showing us that men can be kind and compassionate and that’s a thing worth aspiring to. The recent behaviour of Scotland’s football fans in the US is showing us some great examples of warmth and community, and showing us that men can have a sense of humour and support each other. (Sure, we know we’re not going to last long in the World Cup, but we’re here to make sure that Scotland is represented by the values that make us proud).

I would be remiss as well not to mention men in the LGBTQ+ community who face additional challenges with mental health. I spoke recently to a new podcast about Gay and Bisexual Men’s Health about mental health in Gay and Bisexual Men, and there are more episodes here you can explore. Telling the life stories of marginalised men is incredibly important to help us push back against those unhelpful oboundaries

While there is some progress that we should be proud of, it’s something that isn’t going to be solved overnight. We’re going to have to keep challenging the unhelpful stereotypes whenever we can. We’re going to have to keep stepping up and keep checking in on our friends and loved ones. We’re going to have to keep valuing our individual stories, making space for these stories to be heard, and be willing to listen and learn from each other.

I’ve worked with men all over the UK on their mental health. Men from just about every occupation you can imagine, including the armed forces, with good results. If you’d like to work with an experienced counsellor on an issue with your mental health you can get in touch with me via the submission form on the website or drop me a message directly at mckellarCBT@gmail.com