Key Men's Mental Health Statistics: A Guide To The Data

Finding the right data on the scale of the men’s mental health crisis in the UK can be challenging. There is a wealth of information out there, but much of it is squirrelled away on various government and third sector websites. 

As a platform, we strive to provide access to the best possible counselling for men. Part of this requires us keeping our fingers on the pulse about the latest trends in men’s therapy and mental health, and this means a lot of digging through public data sources. Our findings inform our product, as they help us understand what brings men into the room, or keeps them out of it. 

Rather than keeping this information to ourselves, we thought it would be a great idea to publish it on our site. Whether you’re a men’s therapist looking to understand macro-level trends in mental health, a researcher at a third party organisation, or just someone with a general curiosity, we hope that you find it useful. 

You’ll see that a lot of the findings compare men to women, which is due to gender splits in the data. Women face extraordinary mental health challenges in the UK, and many of these are unique to them. It’s absolutely not our intention to minimise women’s struggles; we simply want to shine a spotlight on and benchmark specific male mental health outcomes.

Some of the datasets are a few years old. Datasets are not always published annually, and sometimes there is a lag in reporting. 

If you’d like to discuss some of the key trends in the data, feel free to drop us a line. We’re always happy to have a chat and offer a view.  

Office for National Statistics (ONS): Suicides in England and Wales: 2023 registrations. Provides an overview of the latest suicide data in the two countries, finding that 75% of the 7,147 deaths in 2024 were male. 

Office for National Statistics (ONS):  Suicides in England and Wales. The underlying dataset behind the annual bulletin, providing age and sex breakdowns. Shows that males aged 50–54 face the highest risk of any group at 26.8 deaths per 100,000 population, and that suicide remains the leading cause of death for men under 50.

Samaritans: Latest Suicide Data. Samaritans' annually updated summary of suicide figures across all UK nations, drawing on ONS, NRS and NISRA data. Highlights that the male suicide rate (17.1 per 100,000) is approximately three times the female rate (5.6 per 100,000), a gap that has persisted for decades.

House of Commons Library: Suicide Statistics (CBP-7749). Parliamentary research briefing covering suicide trends from 1981 to 2024. Notes that while the female suicide rate has nearly halved since 1981, the male rate has fallen by only 8%, and that deprivation is a significant driver: men aged 25–44 in the most deprived areas die by suicide at a rate of 14.9 per 100,000, compared to 10.6 in the least deprived.

National Records of Scotland (NRS): Probable Suicides 2024. Annual Scottish suicide statistics, reporting 704 probable suicides in 2024. Males remain three times more likely than females to die by suicide, and people in Scotland's most deprived areas are two and a half times more likely to die by suicide than those in the least deprived.

Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID): Suicide Prevention Profile, Statistical Commentary (May 2024 Update). Regional and local authority-level analysis of suicide rates in England. Identifies the North East as having the highest regional suicide rate (15.1 deaths per 100,000), while London records the lowest (8.3 per 100,000).

NHS England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2023/24. The most comprehensive and authoritative survey of mental health prevalence in England, published November 2025 and covering fieldwork from March 2023 to July 2024. Finds that 16.3% of men now have a common mental health condition, that prevalence has risen significantly since 2007, and that men remain substantially less likely than women (36.1%) to be affected, though the gap is narrowing.

NHS England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2023/24 — Data Tables. The chapter-by-chapter data tables accompanying the APMS 2023/24, covering common mental health conditions, treatment and service use, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, alcohol, drug use, and gambling. The primary source for granular male-specific figures on each condition.

House of Commons Library: Mental Health Statistics: Prevalence, Services and Funding in England. Regularly updated parliamentary briefing synthesising the key mental health statistics for England. A reliable secondary source confirms that approximately 1 in 4 adults will experience a mental health problem each year, and that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed (20.7% vs 13.2%).

Men's Health Forum: Key Data: Mental Health. A curated summary of statistics on men's mental health, but was last updated in 2017. 

Mental Health Foundation: Men and Women: Statistics. The Mental Health Foundation's summary of the gender gap in mental health. Highlights that men report lower life satisfaction than women in the government's national wellbeing survey, are nearly three times as likely to become alcohol dependent, and are more likely to be compulsorily detained for psychiatric treatment.

UK Government / Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC): Men's Health: A Strategic Vision for England. England's first ever Men's Health Strategy, published in 2025. Sets out the scale of the problem; 36% of men died before their 75th birthday in 2024,  and frames male mental health and suicide prevention as central priorities, including a landmark three-year partnership with the Premier League.

NHS England Digital: NHS Talking Therapies Annual Report 2023–24. The official annual report on England's NHS Talking Therapies programme. Finds that 66.5% of all referrals are women, and that men are underrepresented in every single local area of England, making this the clearest national evidence of the male treatment gap.

NHS England Digital: NHS Talking Therapies Annual Report 2024–25. The most recent annual Talking Therapies report, covering April 2024 to March 2025. Includes the latest data on gender, ethnicity, recovery rates and waiting times. This is our go-to source for any current-year figures on NHS therapy access.

NHS England Digital: NHS Talking Therapies Monthly Statistics. Rolling monthly release of NHS Talking Therapies activity data across England, updated each month. 

House of Commons Library: Mental Health Statistics: Prevalence, Services and Funding in England. Confirms that only around 1 in 8 adults with a mental health problem are currently receiving any treatment. This is a striking figure that contextualises the scale of unmet need, particularly given men's lower rates of help-seeking.

British Journal of General Practice:  Identifying Barriers to Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Young Adults in the UK. Cross-sectional survey identifying the main barriers stopping young adults from seeking mental health support. Finds that perceived stigma is the most significant barrier for 22% of respondents, and that 35% of those aged 18–25 with an emotional or mental health difficulty seek no help at all.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE): Work-Related Stress, Depression or Anxiety Statistics 2024/25. HSE's annual workplace health statistics, published November 2025. Reports that 964,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25 - a 24% increase year-on-year - resulting in 40.1 million lost working days.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE): Health and Safety Statistics. The full HSE statistics hub, providing breakdowns by sector, sex, age and region. Construction and public administration consistently record the highest rates of work-related mental ill health, with construction workers facing a suicide risk 3.7 times the national average.

Champion Health: Workplace Health Report 2024. Annual survey of UK employee health and wellbeing. Finds that financial pressure is now the top external stressor for 41% of employees, up from 37% the previous year, and that 45% feel uncomfortable discussing mental health concerns with their manager.

Mind: The Big Mental Health Report 2024. Mind's large-scale survey of mental health in the workplace. Finds that 52% of employees say financial worries have negatively affected their work performance, and that 47% believe an open dialogue about mental health would significantly improve their wellbeing.

Mental Health UK: Burnout Report 2025. Annual YouGov-surveyed burnout report covering 4,418 UK adults. Finds that 35% of 18–24 year olds needed time off work due to stress in the past year, rising to 29% among 25–34 year olds,  with a generational divide emerging in willingness to discuss mental health with managers.

Deloitte: Mental Health and Employers: The Case for Investment 2024. Deloitte's annual analysis of the economic cost of poor mental health in UK workplaces. Estimates the total cost to the UK economy at £57.4 billion per year, nearly doubling in recent years, with presenteeism accounting for the largest share of losses.

Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID):  Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Profile, November 2025 Update. Updated November 2025, this profile provides Integrated Care Board-level data across a wide range of mental health indicators, enabling local health planners and journalists to benchmark areas against national figures.

OHID / DHSC Fingertips: Suicide Prevention Profile. Interactive public health profile allowing local area comparisons of suicide rates, filtered by region, deprivation decile, age, and sex. 

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee: Mental Health of Men and Boys. Published evidence, ministerial letters, and reports from the parliamentary inquiry into the mental health of men and boys. A useful source for policy context and for quoting directly from ministers or expert witnesses.

Disclaimer: 

This article is for information only and reflects the thoughts of the writer. It's not medical or mental health advice. Seek professional help for your needs. Men's Counselling Service LTD is not a crisis service. For emergencies, call your local services or the Samaritans at 116 123.

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