Website to help hesistant dads tackle mental-health

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GAYLE MACDONALD
The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Jun. 12 2014, 5:09 PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Jun. 12 2014, 5:16 PM EDT

When it comes to mental health, men particularly young fathers
have been largely overlooked, with most of the treatment and services
focused on women and new mothers.
This lapse has prompted psychiatrists Dr. Andrew Howlett at t.
!oseph"s Health #entre in Toronto and Dr. $en%amin &osen at the
'niversity of Toronto to set up #anada"s first (athers )ental Health
*etwork, a website that goes live on unday, (ather"s Day.
The network, an offshoot of the (athers )ental Health program
launched at t. !oseph"s this spring, will pull together world+renowned
mental+health researchers, clinicians and community partners to
address the glaring hole in care.
,The rate of depression in early fatherhood is -. per cent twice the
general rate of depression in men,/ Howlett says. ,There is a dire need
to provide more services for fathers with mental+health problems./
Howlett blames the gap between men and women"s care on the fact
that it has traditionally been more difficult to engage men in
addressing their overall health never mind getting them to open up
about mental+health issues.
,We know the stigma of mental health tends to have a uni0ue and
more severe impact on men than it does on women. That"s largely due
to society"s stereotypes about the male role, having to be strong and
tending to repress their feelings and emotions,/ Howlett says.
According to the #anadian )ental Health Association, mental+health
issues affect more than 1.2+million #anadian men and boys each year.
(our out of five suicides among young people in #anada are committed
by males.
ince the launch of t. !oseph"s (athers )ental Health program,
Howlett says there has been a steady increase in the number of
men3dads seeking support. He adds the %ump is due largely to ,the
greater degree of father involvement in their childrens" and families"
lives./
With any change comes new forms of stress, Howlett e4plains. ,And
becoming a father %ust like becoming a mom is a vulnerable and
stressful transition./
The site, fathersmentalhealth.com, is designed to act as a mental+
health information tool for both patients and doctors on services,
products and research from around the world. Already, mental+health
practitioners from Australia, $ritain, most ma%or #anadian cities and
elsewhere are on board. 5(unding comes from the #anadian 6nstitutes
of Health &esearch, which recogni7ed the need to bolster mental+
health care for men8.
' of T"s &osen says the network is critically needed as the mental+
health community begins to better understand and appreciate the
impact on children and families when a father is suffering from
depression or other forms of an4iety.
,)en typically have more difficulty identifying mental health, as well as
more difficulty engaging with health+care providers,/ he says. ,$y
creating a service designed specifically for men, we hope to have much
more success providing better mental+health care./
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