Today is World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is ‘mental health is a universal human right’. The day is an opportunity to raise awareness about mental health, and to provide a collective ‘space’ where people can talk about mental health and how to promote better mental health for everyone.

We asked our Young People’s Forum to help us think through some communications in advance of World Mental Health Day, in particular the key messages that are important for young men to hear, but also for the services and people who support them.

As ever, the young men were really reflective and thoughtful. They all agreed that communication about mental health needed to be genuine and realistic. They believed that there’s no point glossing over things just because that’s what people might want to hear. For young men, they wanted them to know that there is always hope, and that seeking help might be the best thing they ever do. It can be life changing, and life saving.

Their message to the people supporting young men (family, friends, workers) was to ‘face the fear’ about talking about mental health. They wanted people to ask a young man about their mental health at the first signs that something might be wrong - their motto was ‘ask, and ask without delay’. They thought that young men might need someone who is supportive but firm - sometimes young men aren’t aware of everything that is going on with them. They also wanted people to treat each young man as an individual and not to compare their experiences with other people’s experiences, or how they were coping. Everyone is different.

The young men chose this image to represent young men and mental health. For them, the variation in the lines and the indecipherable nature of the writing reflect the complexity of mental health and the positive and negative thoughts that might go through a young man’s mind. 

Take a look at the Men Minds Twitter (X) feed (@MenMindsProject), or view our new Instagram profile (men.minds) to see the young men’s messages for you.