June is Men’s Mental Health Month. But Why is Nobody Talking?

He’s fine. He looks fine. He jokes around. His Instagram’s curated. He replies, “I’m good,” without flinching. But he’s not. And June, Men’s Mental Health Month, passes by like background noise. Where are the campaigns? Where are the hashtags? Where’s the space for the boys who smile like shields and stay silent like survival?

In a world that’s louder than ever, young men are still going quiet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the leading cause of illness and disability among adolescents globally, with suicide being the fourth leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds. And yet over 60% of students struggling with mental health do not seek help. For male students, that number is even higher not because they’re okay, but because they’ve been told they have to be.

“Real men don’t cry. Be strong. Man up.”

That’s what the world says.

So boys become men who bottle storms in their chests. Students become statistics. And June become just another month.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

The Pressure Cooker Nobody Talks About.

University halls, college cafeterias, dorm rooms these are the silent battlegrounds. A global survey by UNICEF and Gallup in 2021 reported that 1 in 5 young people aged 15–24 often feel depressed or have little interest in doing things. In many cultures, especially in Asia, the stigma around male vulnerability is even more suffocating.

“It’s weakness. It’s embarrassing. It’s better not to talk about it.”

So they don’t.

But Silence is Not Strength.

Here’s what needs to change:

• Normalizing conversations about mental health in male spaces.

• Educators and institutions actively checking in on all students, not just the visibly struggling ones.

• Platforms and brands actually showing up during June not just for performative activism but real, raw storytelling.

We need fewer “awareness campaigns” and more awareness in action.

This June, don’t post just another quote. Call your friend. Check in on your brother. Sit beside the boy who laughs too hard in class he might be screaming inside.

We need to make it safe for men to say:

“I’m not okay.”And be met with,“I hear you. I’m here.”

Because Men’s Mental Health Month should not be quiet.

It should be heard. It should be held. It should be human.