produced by: Boston University School of Public Health
Season 5 Episode 5
Every November, thousands of men across the United States dare to survive the entire month facing the hardest challenge imaginable: not shaving. Through the jokes and laughs about No Shave November, the reality of bushy upper lips is rooted in the Movember movement to bring awareness to men’s mental health issues, truly one of the hardest challenges in today’s society.
In 2022, nearly 50,000 men died by suicide. Men in the U.S. are 3.5 times more likely to commit suicide than women. In a patriarchal society that structurally favors men, what factors contribute to their mental health decline? How do online spaces for men fuel toxic behaviors and harmful mentalities, and how can public health professionals intervene? In other words, why should we invest in men’s mental health, and how can we effectively address the growing mental health crisis of young men?
Krista Fisher is a research fellow at the Movember Institute and has a PhD in young men’s mental health from the University of Melbourne. She leads a program of research on online masculinities, exploring the ways social media influences young men’s mental health and their gender ideologies globally. In this episode of PHPod, host Abby Varker speaks with Fisher about the influence of toxic masculinity, intersectionality, and engagement in online spaces on men’s mental health outcomes.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health challenge, help is available. Call or text 988, chat live at chat.988lifeline.org, or contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness by calling 800-950-6264 or texting “NAMI” to 741741.
PHPod sits down with Matt Motta, assistant professor of health law, policy & management at Boston University School of Public Health, and Marjorie Decker, Massachusetts State Representative and Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, to discuss the role public health plays in our elections.
PHPod speaks with Drs. Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva, authors of the book "The End of College Football" and co-hosts of The End of Sport podcast, to explore the intersection of football, athlete safety, and public health.
PHPod host Abby Varker explores how public transportation can be a mode of public health improvement with Jed Paul, physician and social media influencer (@jeddeo1), and Jonathan Buonocore, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health.
