By Amelia Farrow-Foster

What is men’s mental health awareness month and why is it important?

Men’s mental health awareness month is a campaign to help reduce stigma of men’s mental health. 75% suicides are men and often due to undiagnosed and treated mental health issues. This month encourages men to speak up about their mental health and open up to others so that they don’t have to suffer alone.

What is being done at Imperial to support men’s mental health?

We have a lot of services at imperial focused on student welfare and wellbeing including the student counselling and mental health advice service who provide access to mental health services and advisors. Our welfare teams are able to signpost students to these services.
We also have had a number of ICSM societies taking part in the Movember campaign to help raise awareness for men’s mental health amongst the student community.

What are some things that students can do to support their peers with any mental health worries/issues?

It is important within the ICSM community that students feel well supported by each other and that we create a friendly community with no stigma surrounding men’s mental health. This is where campaigns such as Movember and other charity events are crucial in order to raise awareness for such important issues and begin to reduce this stigma, so that students feel comfortable in gaining support for themselves where needed.