How can men take care of their mental health? 5 habits backed by neuroscience

by Jay Pottenger 

So, how can men take care of their mental health?
Protect your sleep, invest in a few real connections, move your body, eat for your brain, and train your attention.
Five lifestyle factors. None is a silver bullet on its own. Together, they are the foundation everything else is built on.

Why men's mental health needs a different conversation

The numbers are confronting. In Australia, more than three-quarters (76.5%) of people who died by suicide in 2025 were men. The male rate was 18.4 per 100,000, compared with 5.6 for women (ABS, 2025).

Yet men are still less likely to reach out. A systematic review of 37 studies found that conforming to traditional masculine norms shapes how men experience depression, whether they seek help, and how they manage symptoms.

We've written before about the self-reliance trap. This piece is about the daily habits that build a buffer before things get hard.

1. Sleep: the foundation of emotional control

If you only change one thing, change the way you sleep. 

When you're short on sleep, your brain's threat detector, the amygdala, becomes more reactive. At the same time, its connection with the prefrontal cortex, the region that helps you pause, reason and regulate, weakens. It's why a bad night can turn a mildly annoying email into a full-blown threat.

Over time, the stakes rise. Across 21 longitudinal studies, people with insomnia had roughly twice the risk of developing depression compared with good sleepers.

Sleep is trainable. Read more here. 

Get the phone out of the bed: A study pairing phone-use logs with wearable sleep data found that phone use in bed was linked to taking longer to fall asleep and more time awake, while use outside of bed was not. It's not just the light. It's also the stimulation that keeps your brain switched on.

Anchor your wake time: Same time every day, weekends included. Your body clock runs on consistency.

Treat insomnia like any other health issue: If poor sleep has lasted more than a few weeks, ask your GP about CBT-I (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia), the recommended first-line treatment. Treating insomnia has also been shown to improve mood.

2. Connection: the pillar men neglect most

Strong relationships are one of the most powerful health predictors we have. A meta-analysis of 148 studies and more than 300,000 people found those with stronger social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival, an effect comparable with well-established risk factors.

But for men, more catch-ups isn't the whole answer. What seems to matter more is depth, like having someone you can genuinely confide in.

Name your two people: Who could you call at 10pm if things fell apart? If you can't name two, that's your project.

Go shoulder to shoulder: Many men find it easier to open up side by side than face to face: on a walk, at training, on a drive. Men in one study described men-only peer groups as key to engaging with support.

Go one question deeper: Swap "How's work?" for "What's been weighing on you lately?"

3. Movement: an evidence-based mood tool

Exercise isn't just for your body. A 2024 BMJ network meta-analysis of 218 randomised trials found walking or jogging, strength training and yoga all produced moderate reductions in depression, with bigger benefits at higher intensity. 

Strength training was one of the best options. If you already lift, you already own a mental health tool.

Start small: a brisk 20-minute walk. Walk with a mate and you've ticked off two pillars.

4. Nutrition: promising but a young field.

The food-mood field is exciting, but young. In Australia's SMILES trial, adults with moderate to severe depression who were supported by a dietitian to improve their diet improved more than a social-support control group. A later Australian trial in men aged 18 to 25 found similar benefits from a Mediterranean-style diet.

The practical message: more vegetables, legumes, wholegrains, nuts, olive oil and fish; fewer ultra-processed foods; and an honest look at your alcohol.  The Mediterranean diet is a great place to start. 

5. Mindfulness and digital management: train your attention

Mindfulness is fitness for your attention and emotions. An analysis pooling individual data from 13 trials and 2,371 adults found group mindfulness programs reliably reduced psychological distress.

For most of us, the biggest drain on attention lives in our pocket. Every ping pulls your brain toward reactive mode and away from the present.

What does the research say about a digital detox? A meta-analysis of 32 randomised trials found that restricting social media improved wellbeing. In one trial, limiting social media to about 30 minutes a day reduced loneliness and depression over three weeks. You don’t have to be a monk, you just have to manage it

Reduce, don't necessarily quit: Set app limits on your two most-scrolled apps.

Cut the noise: Turn off every notification that isn't from a human.

Create one phone-free ritual: Morning coffee, the drive home, or dinner.

Breathe before you scroll: Two minutes of slow breathing before you pick up your phone in the morning.

Start with one

You don't need to overhaul your life this month. Pick one: phone out of the bedroom tonight, a walk with a mate this weekend, or a message to someone you haven't spoken to in a while.

Small actions, repeated, are how behaviour change sticks.

And if things feel heavier than lifestyle changes can carry, that's not failure. Talk to your GP, or reach out to Lifeline (13 11 14), MensLine Australia (1300 78 99 78) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636). In an emergency, call 000.

Strength isn't carrying it all alone. It's knowing when to share the load.

FAQ

• How can men take care of their mental health? Protect sleep, keep at least two people you can confide in, move most days, eat a mostly whole-food diet, and manage attention, including phone use. Seek professional help early if symptoms last more than two weeks.

• Why don't men seek help for mental health? Research links conformity to traditional masculine norms, especially self-reliance and emotional control, to lower help-seeking and higher self-stigma.

• Does a digital detox improve mental health? Trials show small but real improvements in wellbeing when social media is reduced. 

• How does sleep affect men's mental health? Sleep loss makes the brain's threat system more reactive, and ongoing insomnia roughly doubles the risk of developing depression.

_References

1. _{Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, 2024. ABS. Summary figures via Mindframe.}

2. _{Baglioni, C., et al. (2011). Insomnia as a predictor of depression: A meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies. Journal of Affective Disorders.}

3. _{Bayes, J., Schloss, J., & Sibbritt, D. (2022). Effects of a Mediterranean diet on the treatment of depression in young males (AMMEND). American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.}

4. _{Bizzozero-Peroni, B., et al. (2024). The impact of the Mediterranean diet on alleviating depressive symptoms in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Nutrition Reviews.}

5. _{Burnell, K., et al. (2025). The effects of social media restriction: Meta-analytic evidence from randomized controlled trials. SSM - Mental Health.}

6. _{Foster, H., et al. (2023). Social connection and mortality in UK Biobank: A prospective cohort analysis. BMC Medicine.}

7. _{Galante, J., et al. (2023). Systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of RCTs assessing mindfulness-based programs for mental health promotion. Nature Mental Health.}

8. _{Gebara, M. A., et al. (2018). Effect of insomnia treatments on depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Depression and Anxiety.}

9. _{Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine.}

10. _{Hunt, M. G., et al. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.}

11. _{Jacka, F. N., et al. (2017). A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the SMILES trial). BMC Medicine.}

12. _{Kheirinejad, S., et al. (2022). "Leave your smartphone out of bed": Quantitative analysis of smartphone use effect on sleep quality. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.}

13. _{Noetel, M., et al. (2024). Effect of exercise for depression: Systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The BMJ.}

14. _{Seidler, Z. E., et al. (2016). The role of masculinity in men's help-seeking for depression: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review.}

15. _{Shor, E., & Roelfs, D. J. (2015). Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Social Science & Medicine.}

16. _{Staiger, T., et al. (2020). Masculinity and help-seeking among men with depression: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Psychiatry.}

17. _{Yoo, S.-S., Gujar, N., Hu, P., Jolesz, F. A., & Walker, M. P. (2007). The human emotional brain without sleep: A prefrontal amygdala disconnect. Current Biology.}