Mental Health Crisis in Australian Young Men

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Table of Contents

Description of Resource
Alignment with 3 Learning Objectives
Resource Appropriateness to Inform Learning
Critique (Strengths/Weaknesses)
Reference List

Description of Resource

The chosen resource is the first 10 minutes of the segment of “60 Minutes Australia,” a newsmagazine show. It is dedicated to a highly disturbing issue that has recently occurred in the country – the increased rates of suicide among young men. Addressing the real stories of people that have faced this national emergency, reporters Tom Steinfort, Liz Hayes, Liam Bartlett, Tara Brown, and Sarah Abo make efforts to investigate its underlying reasons and raise public awareness.

The video starts with the story of Jake Fitzsimmons on the basis of the interview with his mother and sister. This 25-year-old man from Melbourne, Victoria, was a local footy hero with “a decent job and plenty of great mates” (60 Minutes Australia 2021). However, despite his talent and popularity among peers, Jake was keeping a secret that only his family knew – he was suffering from depression started from his entering into adulthood and enhanced by multiple factors. Although Jake was taken to numerous doctors and counselors, these experts did not help him. As a result, despite his mother’s unconditioned support, Jake took his own life several months ago. His death “set a great way of grief” not only through his family but his football community as well (60 Minutes Australia 2021).

Subsequently, the resource addresses Jake Edwards, another Australian footy hero, who also suffered from depression in his early twenties. Like Fitzsimmons, he wanted to take his own life at the age of 26, however, he managed to survive. In the present day, Jake Edwards is “committed to helping those most affected by suicide” (60 Minutes Australia 2021). In particular, he organizes meetings of young people and tells them his story of beating depression and suicide survival in order to inspire them as the help from the side of the country’s health care system cannot be regarded as efficient.

Alignment with 3 Learning Objectives

LO7.1

According to the resource, thousands of young men start to experience depression entering their adulthood when their masculinity is shaped, and a lack of appropriate emotional and psychological support from society and respectable authorities may lead to their mental health’s decline. In general, three major causes of severe depression that may lead to suicide are illnesses, genetic factors, and environmental stress (National Institute of Mental Health 2017). Another essential issue reflected in the resource is the inability to detect depression in a considerable number of cases, especially when a person creates an impression of a successful one with stability in life and surrounded by friends. According to Jake Fitzsimmons’ mother, she was aware of how desperate her son was only the last twelve months before his death, while no one from his mate knew about his condition at all.

In general, it may be more challenging for health care specialists, friends, and family members to recognize depression symptoms in young men as they may be aggressive or angry instead of sad (Cavanagh et al. 2017). Other common manifestations may include irritability, restlessness, anxiety, lost interest in once-pleasurable activities, a lack of concentration, extreme tiredness, overeating or malnutrition, issues with sexual desire, physical pain, withdrawing from relatives and friends, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide attempts (Australian Government Department of Health 2021). In addition, affected by social stereotypes, men traditionally prefer to speak less about their physical and mental issues and see treatment in comparison with women.

LO7.2

The resource addresses the traditional treatment of depression, including meetings with doctors and counselors and related therapy. At the same time, it emphasizes severe problems that exist in the Australian health care system in relation to young men’s mental health. In addition, coaches who should be responsible for young men’s male health frequently have a negative impact on the identification of their masculinity. However, the collective help of suicide survivors and other people deeply affected by this devastating issue to young men who suffer from depression is mentioned as an alternative to the health care system’s intervention. In particular, such mental health crisis services, as Mental Health Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team, Kids Helpline, Lifeline, and Beyond Blue, provide all necessary information concerning the detection of depression, ways to prevent suicide, and help for suicide survivors or family members who lost their beloved ones (Australian Government Department of Health 2021).

LO7.4

In general, depression and subsequent suicide attempts may be caused by multiple triggering personal and social factors. According to the resource, a broken relationship, ankle injury, and other setbacks led Jake Fitzsimmons to desperateness, aggression, and alcohol and drug abuse. As a matter of fact, other personal factors determined by the environment may include abusive relationships, loneliness, self-isolation, long-term unemployment, financial burden, and prolonged work stress. At the same time, the resource video emphasizes the impact of social perception of men’s mental health on suicide rates. In other words, men’s mental health issues are highly stigmatized, and asking mental health care specialists for help is regarded as shameful. As a result, according to Jake Fitzsimmons’ mother, a substantial number of young athletes across the country are lost and broken toiling through life. Any issues with their mental health are highly stigmatized, and they refuse to meet specialists who, in turn, do not have clear and efficient guidelines to treat young men’s depression. Although they are trying to help themselves, they cannot cope with depression alone.

Resource Appropriateness to Inform Learning

First of all, the resource chosen helps to learn as it addresses a highly disturbing issue that has already become a national emergency while a tragic scale has not been completely understood and no appropriate actions have been taken yet. In general, the rates of suicide are shocking as it is defined as “a leading cause of premature deaths in Australia” (60 Minutes Australia 2021). At the same time, men who take their own lives drastically outnumber women, and approximately six young men across the country commit suicide every day. In addition, while three-quarters of suicides are men, a considerable amount of them was in their early twenties. In addition, it contributes to raising awareness among people as it focuses on young athletes who are successful in sports and have many friends and supportive families. In other words, considerably high depression and suicide rates among those Australians who are not supposed to be vulnerable according to society’s perception should attract the attention of ordinary people to the country’s health care authorities.

Subsequently, the resource clearly informs about the potential underlying causes of depression in young men and obstacles to this condition’s diagnosis and effective treatment. In general, common barriers for mental help-seeking in young men derived from shame and supported by social standards include traditional masculine ideals, environmental and cultural influences, personal challenges, fear of homophobic or another unacceptable or disrespectful response, self-medicating with alcohol, and acceptance from peers (Lynch et al. 2016). Thus, the resource may be regarded as a reliable basis for further investigation of depression’s factors and causes in Australian men for adequate prevention strategies in the future.

Critique (Strengths/Weaknesses)

First of all, it is essential to define the resource’s information presentation as its main strength. The combination of facts’ presenting, personal stories, and interviews plays a highly essential role in inform learning as it allows to attract attention to a particular issue in the most comprehensive and even emotional way. As a result, residents are supplied with factual information concerning Australia’s suicide rates among young men, their causes, and reasons why they are growing, and the country’s mental health system cannot change this situation. In addition, listening to Jake’s mother, sister, and best friends provides an insight into the emotional state of those who have lost their beloved ones due to depression to raise more awareness of this issue as well.

In addition, as previously mentioned, the resource clearly informs about the potential underlying causes of depression in Australian young men and barriers to this condition’s diagnosis and effective treatment. In other words, it describes an emergency, provides a number of factors that may lead to men’s depression and suicide attempts, presents the main causes why medical help from mental health experts is not efficient and states what people currently do to prevent and mitigate this issue. In general, it is possible to say that this resource may be used to attract the attention of the international health care community to the mental health of young men not only in Australia but across the globe as well and as a basis for further in-depth investigation.

As a weakness, a lack of information from the position of the health care system in relation to the issue may be observed. Thus, there are no representatives who may explain from the medical perspective how the mental health facilities address depression and what obstacles impact suicide rates. Nevertheless, a chosen resource may be regarded as a reliable evidence-based piece of information that may substantially contribute to informed learning.

Reference List

Australian Government Department of Health. 2021. “About Suicide Prevention.” 2021. Web.

Cavanagh, Anna, Coralie J. Wilson, David J. Kavanagh, and Peter Caputi. 2017. “Differences in the Expression of Symptoms in Men Versus Women with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry 25 (1): 29-38.

60 Minutes Australia. 2021. “The Heartbreaking Mental Health Crisis in Young Men that Needs Urgent Action | 60 Minutes Australia.” YouTube video.

Lynch, Louise, Maggie Long, and Anne Moorhead. 2016. “Young Men, Help-Seeking, and Mental Health Services: Exploring Barriers and Solutions.” American Journal of Men’s Health 12 (1): 138-149.

National Institute of Mental Health. 2017. “Men and Depression.” Web.

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