Men don't always communicate distress by saying, “I'm struggling.”

Withdrawal, irritability, anger, shutting down, overworking or changes in behaviour can all communicate something that words aren't.

In this MANUP? Talk, Mental Health Nurse Michael Stevenson explores how men learn to communicate emotion, why some men struggle to put distress into words, and what happens when the signs they are giving are misunderstood.

Drawing on frontline mental health practice and research into masculinity, help-seeking and suicide prevention, Michael will look at the emotional skills gap, the double bind around male vulnerability, and why simply telling men to “talk more” can miss the point.

He'll also explore how professionals, families, friends and communities can adapt the way they communicate with men, including practical examples of how different language, pacing and approaches can improve trust, disclosure and conversations around suicide risk.

Michael Stevenson

Michael is a newly qualified Mental Health Nurse and Key Worker within an Adult Community Mental Health Team.

His practitioner-researcher work focuses on men's mental health, masculinity, barriers to help-seeking and suicide prevention, particularly how masculine socialisation influences emotional expression and the ways men communicate distress.

Michael has written on gender-responsive communication, male socialisation, socioeconomic barriers to help-seeking and masculinity-informed approaches to suicide prevention and safety planning.

Through his frontline and academic work, he aims to turn what we know about men's mental health into practical approaches that professionals, services, families and communities can actually use..

MANUP? Talks sessions are open to men and women. This session is for anyone who wants to better understand how men respond to trauma and how conversations can be handled with care, honesty, and confidence.

A Zoom link and passcode will be shared after sign-up.