Black Dog Digs Inside the Male Psyche
17 April 2014 at 11:22 am
The Black Dog Institute is on a mission to shed some light on how Australian men cope with stress and crises in their lives.
The Institute has launched a “Doing What Comes Naturally: what do you do when things get tough?” online survey, which it wants Australian men over 18 to complete as part of a Men’s Health Study.
The survey aims to find out about the positive strategies men use on a regular basis when they are feeling fine, to keep themselves feeling OK, and also what they do to cope when they are feeling down or going through a rough patch.
Black Dog Research Associate Professor Judy Proudfoot said Australian men were significantly more likely to have problems with drugs, alcohol and violence. They make up 90 per cent of prison populations and account for almost 80 per cent of suicides.
“Aussie men are doing it tough, and while we know a lot about what is going wrong, we don't know much about what is going right,” Prof Proudfoot said.
“The truth is we really don’t have a lot of understanding about how men cope with crises and prevent depression and suicide.
“We have launched the Men’s Health Study to learn how Aussie men effectively cope with the bad things in life, like work stress or relationship breakdowns.”
Prof Proudfoot said the results of the study would be incorporated into new mental health programs that provide targeted mental health solutions for men.
The survey is anonymous and can be found here. Anyone with further questions about the Men’s Health Study can contact the research team at menshealth@unsw.edu.au.
