Yes. June is Men’s Health Month in the United States, and mental health is one of its central topics. Congress established the observance in 1994 after Kansas Senator Bob Dole introduced a bill to raise awareness about health conditions affecting men, including early detection and treatment. While the month covers physical health broadly, mental health has become an increasingly prominent focus given the gap between men’s mental health needs and the care they actually receive.
Why June Matters for Men’s Mental Health
The numbers behind men’s mental health are stark. Men make up about half the U.S. population but account for nearly 80% of suicides. The male suicide rate in 2023 was roughly four times higher than the female rate: 22.7 per 100,000 compared to 5.9. Despite this, men are significantly less likely to get help. CDC data shows that in 2021, only 17.8% of men aged 18 to 44 had received any mental health treatment in the prior year, compared to 28.6% of women in the same age group.
Those figures have been improving. Male treatment rates rose from 13.1% in 2019 to 17.8% in 2021, but the gap between men and women remains wide. June’s designation as Men’s Health Month gives organizations, healthcare systems, and public health campaigns a shared window to push that number higher.
How Depression Looks Different in Men
One reason men’s mental health problems go unaddressed is that they often don’t look the way people expect. Sadness and tearfulness are the stereotypical signs of depression, but for many men, those aren’t the primary symptoms. Instead, depression in men frequently shows up as persistent irritability, anger that feels disproportionate, or a short fuse with family and coworkers.
Physical symptoms are another common mask. Chronic headaches, digestive problems, unexplained pain, and constant fatigue can all be signs of underlying depression. So can escapist patterns like burying yourself in work, spending excessive time on sports or hobbies, or increasing alcohol and drug use. Reckless behavior, social withdrawal, and difficulty maintaining relationships are other red flags that don’t match the classic image of a depressed person sitting alone in a dark room.
Men themselves often struggle to distinguish depression from stress, particularly when symptoms are tied to a concrete external factor like job loss or financial pressure. If there’s an obvious reason for feeling bad, it’s easy to dismiss what’s happening as a normal reaction rather than something that needs attention.
Why Men Don’t Seek Help
The barriers are both social and systemic. On the social side, stigma, fear of judgment, and a lack of practice talking about emotions keep many men from reaching out. Traditional expectations that men define their worth through economic contribution and personal toughness make it harder to frame mental health struggles as legitimate problems rather than personal failures.
The healthcare system itself creates obstacles too. Research has found that mental health providers sometimes miss or misdiagnose psychological problems in men because of their own gender biases. Standard diagnostic tools may not account for the ways men are more likely to experience and express symptoms. When men do make it into a provider’s office, it’s not uncommon for them to feel that their concerns are minimized or mislabeled, or that the provider doesn’t seem genuinely interested in their problems. That kind of experience makes a second visit unlikely.
The Observance Beyond the U.S.
Men’s Health Week, which falls in mid-June and ends on Father’s Day, became an international event in 2002 when the UK adopted it. It has since spread to Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and other countries. International Men’s Health Week in 2025 runs June 10 through 15.
In Canada, the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation uses Men’s Health Month to expand mental health toolkits specifically designed to reduce stigma and meet men wherever they are in addressing their mental health. In the U.S., the Men’s Health Network encourages state and local governments to issue official proclamations recognizing the month.
Crisis Support Available Year-Round
If you or someone you know is struggling, several free, confidential resources are available 24 hours a day. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline connects you with a trained counselor by phone call, text, or live chat. Just dial or text 988. Veterans can call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or use the Veterans Crisis Line’s online chat. The Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 provides multilingual crisis counseling for people dealing with emotional distress from any cause.