Noah Hamlett is a senior studying psychology who developed anxiety and depression from an early age, yet refused to open up about his struggles.

“I spent many years throughout middle and high school dealing with repressed and unresolved grief that made that depression and anxiety worse,” Hamlett said. “There was a point in time where I couldn’t even recognize myself because I felt so lost, and I couldn’t deal with everything I was feeling.”

In addition to therapy, Hamlett eventually found support at UT within the Student Wellness Advisory Council — a program that encourages educational opportunities on emotional wellness and student success.

“I still deal with anxious thoughts, and grief is something that can stay with you forever … but getting help was life-altering for me. It is the reason I am here at UT working to become a counselor one day, I want to help other people in the way I was helped,” Hamlett said.

Similarly, Colin Zimmer, a senior studying business management, found his place at UT within Sources of Strength, which he founded and where he currently serves as president. Zimmer says Sources of Strength is an opportunity for him and other students to turn their internal hardships into a “shared culture of hope, help and strength.”

“It is a community that reminds me I am more than my hardest day,” Zimmer said. “Sources of Strength has been a life changing piece of my college experience, and I hope that everyone can truly understand what the strengths mean.”

As Zimmer plays a pivotal role in mental health for UT in Sources of Strength, he also struggled with his psychological wellness. He said he felt out of the ordinary in his passions and thoughts with the guys around him.

“It was tough to be in a position like this because I never felt like I belonged,” Zimmer said. “I have and have always had a lot of friends who are women, but there always ultimately became a moment that I was left out for this or that reason.

‘Within my male friendships, I never had a real true friend group so I could not practice that strength. … I navigated this reality by simply being myself and pursuing who I wanted to be,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer hopes that “vulnerability becomes ordinary” for men at UT — men checking in on other men, and professors and coaches normalizing mental health.

Hamlett and Zimmer are two of the many men who live with mental health concerns, which at times, can escalate into more severe mental health crises. In 2023, the suicide rate among males was about four times higher compared to females — males make up half of the population and 80% of suicides, according to the CDC.

“One thing you hear often in conversations around men’s mental health is that women are often diagnosed with depression at a higher rate, but more men die by suicide,” Hamlett said. “I think that this shows the disparity between the number of men who struggle with their mental health and the number of men who seek out treatment.”

When mental health declines, things like academics suffer. College enrollment for young males is declining, according to Brookings. Bob DuBois, UT associate teaching professor, explained how young males are interacting with college classes.

“And if it’s not at the start of class, by the time the class progresses, you start to see men at higher numbers starting to have issues and struggle,” DuBois said. “I think men are at a point right now, where they’re really not sure what they want to do.”

“We are in crisis,” Michael Olson, a UT social psychology professor, said. “People need to start taking (men’s mental health) more seriously.”

Olson pointed to the fact that fewer men are attending college or entering trades. He says there is a lack of awareness around this issue, which has a term: “NEETs,” or not in education, employment or training.

“And yet we have people who still claim men are doing just fine as they hand-wave something about the patriarchy,” Olson said. “That approach doesn’t solve these growing problems that truly do affect everyone.”

DuBois compared anxiety and depression to the common cold, saying society tends to generalize mental disorders by thinking of only anxiety and depression. This limits the scope of all other disorders, leading to excess stigmatization.

Compared to women who experience more anxiety and depression, men often indulge in more external, visible behaviors that alter their life experience. This can include alcohol and drug abuse, and engaging in risky or violent behavior, according to DuBois.

External behaviors sometimes mask the fact that men are suffering with their emotional wellbeing, and people are less likely to help as the chosen behavior can result in punishment, according to DuBois.

“We tend not to really think that the kid who is struggling to go to class and struggling to interact in a nice way with others and maybe is turning to drugs and alcohol is actually maybe dealing with a mental health issue. We tend to think that they are just a problem, or they are just out there having fun,” DuBois said.

From Zimmer’s experience, men are often the most vulnerable when consuming alcohol.

“Some of my deepest conversations with guys have been while they were drinking. This is something that can be really tough to combat,” Zimmer said.

According to DuBois, society has a natural tendency to focus more on women’s mental health. Similarly, Olson said that sometimes men’s mental health coverage is met with hostility, occasionally provoking the response of “what about women?”

“I understand that in the attention economy of social media, attention added to one thing can mean attention subtracted from something else,” Olson said. “Still, we think women deserve more attention, apparently, there are something like 2 to 3 times as many news articles written about women’s mental health than men’s mental health.”

Olson said that more men are attending church, offering them a greater sense of community — “that’s progress, but we need to do more.”

“UT has ‘women in engineering day,’ but we do not have a ‘men in nursing’ day. In the same way we have made progress in addressing barriers women have faced, we need to be looking at the barriers men face. Very few people are.”

Olson said that some students only feel like they can turn to their professors for help.

“(Students) do not want to talk to their parents, and they think their friends are idiots. So, we are right there on the front lines, like it or not.”

Although some UT professors do not have the relevant mental health crisis training, professors could complete theApplied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program. The program is free and useful, according to Olson.

“But again, overall, I would want professors to at least communicate to students that we authentically care — that if they’re struggling, we might not be the qualified professional, but we can get the student to a qualified professional.”

Olson said that for males who face mental health concerns, the initial step is simply talking about it.

“I’ve had really difficult conversations about my own mental health both with professionals and with my friends and family,” Hamlett said. “Being vulnerable and opening yourself up like to other people will always feel slightly uncomfortable, but I realized that talking about difficult things is the first step to finding support and healing.

“I am well aware that the field I have chosen to pursue is filled with a lot of women and that I can be perceived like a fish out of water, but this ocean is for all fish, and I think that is something we as men need to realize, is that the conversations about mental health isn’t just one for one type of person, is it a conversation we all need to have.”

From one male to another in distress, Zimmer said to “lead with care, not a solution.”

This could look like creating an open environment by listening to their needs and emotions, spending time with them or helping them make an appointment with a healthcare professional.

“Caring is not the same as counseling,” Zimmer said. “Follow up the next day. Consistency builds trust.”

“The ultimate of our success is certainly achieving our full potential, but then paying it forward … Bearing the torch or being a volunteer also means having the courage to ask for help,” DuBois said.

If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, do not hesitate to contact the suicide lifeline at 988 or 911.