A new men’s telehealth service has launched which aims to give Australians mental health services and performance coaching specifically tailored to men via a confidential, secure, end-to-end encrypted video consultation session.
Dubbed Mantle, the services comes in light of research that finds that one in two men will experience a mental health problem with 41% of those who seek professional help dropping out prematurely. On top of this, 72% of men don’t seek professional treatment for their mental health problems due to time, access, stigma and embarrassment.
Globally, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day. On average, one in eight Australian men will experience depression, and one in five will experience anxiety at some stage of their life. Men make up most of all substance misuse disorders. Men between the ages of 35-50 are at a higher risk of poor mental health.
“Almost 50% of Australians will experience mental ill health at some stage of their life. Many men do not seek professional mental health support because of a perceived lack of time and general access to professional support, stigma and embarrassment,” Mantle chief executive and co-founder Dave Anthony says.
“COVID-19 is also making things even worse, with 78% of people reporting the pandemic has negatively impacted their mental health.”
One of the major reasons for the high number of Aussie men dropping treatment early is that many regret asking for help because the support they received did not meet their expectations.
A breakdown in communication appears to be occurring between the mental health services in Australia and their male patients.
“Australian men are not getting the support they want or need. Despite Australian men seeking mental health support in increasing numbers, there has not been a corresponding reduction in distress or rates of suicide amongst men,” Dave explains.
“The existing system in Australia does not appear to have been designed very well for men. Treatment approaches are missing the mark and do not seem to consider and meet the wants and needs of men. This typically leads to men disengaging from treatment, often after one session.
He explains that Mantle takes a different approach, using evidence-based research to meet the needs of men. Mantle isn’t a crisis line, instead, it provides early intervention and prevention for mental health issues and aims to be a proactive service for building and maintaining good mental health.
“Our three founders are all leading male psychologists who have joined together to develop an urgently required solution. Our specialist team of psychologists each understand the different points in a man’s life, from being single, to marriage, fatherhood, separation and divorce and navigating workplace stress, and personal and professional relationship challenges,” he says.
Mantle offers a discrete service for Australian men that reduces many of the barriers to treatment. Men are put in control of their mental wellbeing with 100% confidentiality. A session with Mantle is 100% secure. All video, audio and screen share transmissions are protected with no digital footprint.
“We have launched Mantle to better engage men to become better partners, fathers, brothers and friends, while eliminating many of the barriers that prevent men from accessing professional treatment. Our telehealth service is accessible anywhere in Australia via phone or secure end-to-end encrypted video chat. For busy men, taking half a day off work or away from family life to go see a doctor or a specialist is tough, with Mantle they can schedule the appointment on their lunchbreak, they can access it from their car, anytime and anywhere that is convenient to them,” Dave stresses.
