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Men’s Health Week highlights the importance of mental and physical health

Mens Health Week

We pay a lot of attention to being in a good physical state, but being in a good mental state is just as important – and the two go hand in hand.

During Men’s Health Week, from 15 to 21 June, EnergyAustralia partnered with Blokepedia and a range of mental health professionals and guest speakers to talk about mental health, how to be open about mental health, discover ways to form healthy habits, deal with change and understand the benefits and importance of exercise.

Webinars covered many topics, and we all learned a lot along the way, including:

  • Men’s health in most countries, including Australia, is generally poorer than that of women
  • Men are less likely to visit general practitioners about their health

Learning from experience

We were also very pleased to have former AFL player Tom Boyd as a guest speaker, who shared his experiences in professional sport and his strategies to maintain positive mental health, including some great tips on how to identify when others may be struggling.

 “I think a pretty good sign of someone who’s going through personal challenges is they start withdrawing from those social connections ... it’s one of the biggest symptoms we can all look for in our colleagues and friends around us,” Tom said.

“If people start pulling back it’s often for a reason and if that reason isn’t solved quickly it can often exacerbate into much more severe issues going forward.”

Tom also reinforced how important it is for parents or friends to simply listen.

“The biggest thing you can do is listen to your kids  and listen to young people when they talk to you about these things because often the conversation isn’t for you, it’s for them – it’s for them to go through their own journey of self-discovery.

“Sometimes they’re simply trying to put the puzzle together in their head and they need someone to talk it through with,” he said.

Talking about it helps us all

Good habits start early and promoting both mental and physical health in boys as well as men is a step towards making a positive difference for us all – at work, home and in our daily lives.

Thanks to EnergyAustralia’s Wellbeing Committee, Spark, for facilitating these important events during Men’s Health Week and for our special guests and experts for giving us such great insights and learnings.