The mental health of young men is declining, and could get worse
Over the past decade, the mental health of young men in Canada has been quietly deteriorating, and a recent CBC News article by Angela Hennessy puts numbers on the trend.
According to federal data cited in the piece, the share of men aged 15 to 24 reporting a mood disorder rose from 11 to 16 % between 2012 and 2022, while self-reported generalized anxiety climbed from 4 to 10 %. Over the same period, the proportion describing their mental health as very good or excellent fell from 70 to 52 %. The article links these shifts to social isolation, social media, online sports betting, and the influence of “manosphere” content that equates masculinity with toughness and silence.
The article combines statistics with personal accounts. Two men, Nick Cholmsky and Adam Kunder, describe how pressure to appear strong kept them from asking for help, while researchers John Oliffe and Robert Whitley point to a lack of public investment and a shortage of male mentors. The federal government’s first strategy for the mental health of boys and men, expected by early 2027, adds a policy angle that makes the topic timely.
My takeaway is that the problem the article describes is as much about connection as it is about clinical care. The strategy to come will be a test of whether mentorship, peer support and safer online spaces can be built at scale. Until then, this article is a useful reminder that how we talk about masculinity, and who we make room for in the conversation, has measurable consequences.
Read the CBC article :
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