National biographer finds that men are only HALF as likely to share about their struggles as opposed to women

November marks men’s mental health awareness month, and whilst much has been done in progressing the conversations around men and their mental health – new data from national biographer, StoryTerrace, reveals that there is still a long way to go in fully closing the gap between how men address their mental health as opposed to women. Being the UK’s top biography-writing service, StoryTerrace has seen a plethora of stories come through the service. The accounts vary from emotional accounts of overcoming loss and disaster to epic love stories and history defining feats.

Amidst a nation shrouded in a mental health crisis, StoryTerrace, has revealed through thousands of of real-life stories that men are only half as likely as women to openly share their personal struggles. Just 37.9% of men’s books that are written via the service are focussed on overcoming personal adversity, in comparison to 62.1% for women. As it stands, 1-in-4 people will experience a mental health problem each year, according to Mind, with the current financial pressures of the cost of living crisis putting further strain on Brits across the country.

Whilst a stigma can sadly still exist for women talking openly about their mental health too, research suggests that men appear to feel this more acutely, and as a result are also less likely to seek out help. Society has come on leaps and bounds in recent years in relation to breaking down the stigma, yet there is considerable progress still to be made. StoryTerrace has commissioned enlightening further research which suggests that significant change might not be so far away. The data found that 28% of the public stated they want to share their difficult experiences so others facing the same issues would feel more accepted and understood. Crucially, this percentage was identical for both men and women.

There are several activities or techniques that have been evidenced to help improve our mental health and general wellbeing. Rutger Bruining, CEO/Founder of StoryTerrace has seen first-hand how thousands of people have positively transformed their mental health by developing a deeper connection with themselves through the memoir-writing process – but this journey doesn’t need to begin with an entire book.

Rutger Bruining, Founder of StoryTerrace, discusses the power of writing in supporting positive mental wellbeing:

“We can see from the books being written through our service that men appear much less likely to want to discuss their deepest internal struggles. This won’t come as a surprise to many – the stigma surrounding mental health in general, but particularly for men, has been well documented. However, I find it incredibly inspiring to see on a daily basis at StoryTerrace the amount of people that choose to share their most intimate struggles, often purely with the goal in mind of providing hope for others going through a similar situation.

“I do think that as a society we are moving in the right direction, and this stigma is gradually being broken down. I also firmly believe that there is power in writing as a cathartic activity – and it doesn’t have to be writing a fully fledged book. Journaling has experienced a well-documented boom over the past few years and has been evidenced to make a real difference for our mental health.”