Regional study targets mental health of young men

December 19, 2007

A research project at the University of New England is aimed at providing more timely help for young men with mental health problems.

The project, conducted by researcher Rhonda Wilson, is focusing on men between the ages of 18 and 24 who live in rural and regional areas of NSW.

"For a variety of reasons – including lack of appropriate educational opportunities – young men living in rural areas seem to be particularly vulnerable to disturbances of their mental health," Ms Wilson said. "And when they begin to suffer symptoms, social factors in country towns can tend to discourage them from seeking early advice."

"It's difficult to detect such problems in their very early stages," Ms Wilson explained. "Some people describe the beginning of psychosis as a time in their lives when 'something was just not quite right'. Such feelings, however, have the potential to develop into psychotic episodes and depression, and can lead to relationship breakdown and even suicide."

"We know that the sooner health workers can detect psychosis the better the recovery is likely to be," she continued. "It would, therefore, be very useful to know more about the experiences that people have in this early phase, and I'm looking for young men who would be willing to talk to me about their own experiences of it. They might be men with vague 'not-quite-right' feelings that they have never sought advice about, or men with more well-defined mental health problems that developed from such feelings. Talking to them would also help me understand the factors – such as social stigma – that can discourage people from seeking help, and generate some ideas about what could be done to overcome those hindrances.

"While there will be no financial or other rewards for them, they will be contributing to research aimed at improving mental health services for rural people. All information will be treated with the strictest confidentiality, and no one will be personally identified in any research report associated with the project."

The project – with funding from the NSW Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching – is a collaborative venture between NSW Health and UNE.

Young men interested in contributing to the research – or their parents – should contact Ms Wilson through the School of Health, University of New England, on (02) 6773 3644.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at December 19, 2007 04:31 PM