MONTREAL - One in four Montreal men live with some form of mental distress, according to a new study.
But the same study found that only 29 per cent of those men say they have asked for psychological help.
The situation is even more dire among men aged 25 to 34, the study found: 43 per cent of men in that age group report suffering from mental distress.
The study - based on a poll of 1,542 Montreal men conducted this past spring by SOM for the Comité régional en santé et bien-être des hommes de l’Île de Montréal - was released Thursday as part of a regional symposium on men's health and well-being taking place in Montreal.
The goal of the study was to try to identify what would make men suffering from mental distress more likely to reach out for help, and how they would prefer to receive that help, said Dr. Janie Houle of the psychology department of the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, the lead author of the study.
Some more of the study's key findings:
- While 82 per cent of men reported seeing a family doctor in the last year, only 17 per cent said they sought out psycho-social services
- Men are most likely to seek psychological help if they feel their distress may affect a child of theirs, or if they find themselves contemplating suicide
- 40 per cent of men said feeling like they will receive concrete help for their distress is the main factor that would spur them to ask for it
- Free or affordable care was reported by 57 per cent as an important factor in considering seeking help
- 66 per cent of English-speaking men said receiving care in their mother tongue is crucial
"The results of this study will allow organizations in the health and social services sectors of Montreal to better adapt their actions in terms of the health and well-being of men," said Manon Lusignan of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, the public health agency overseeing services in the centre-south area of Montreal.
