Silent Men: Documentary explores why men struggle to open up emotionally

The topic of male mental health has received much more prominence in the last decade – something many would argue is long overdue.

But while the high rates of male suicide have put the topic firmly on the national agenda – huge numbers of men still find it difficult to be openly vulnerable and discuss their feelings.

With suicide the biggest killer of men under 50, external in the UK, a new film explores why many men still bottle up their emotions, and asks whether such ingrained, systemic behaviour can be changed.

Duncan Cowles, who directs Silent Men, is the first to admit his own struggles to open up emotionally to those closest to him, joking that tackling the subject for the documentary was “like dragging myself backwards through a hedge”.

But, he tells BBC News at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, he felt it was an important journey to go on because the risks of ignoring your emotions are far scarier.

“I think there’s still a lot of societal pressure around those traditional masculine traits,” Cowles says. “Being strong and things associated with being a leader or this stable, reliable, dependable figure.

“There’s maybe something still seductive about that idea of that old-fashioned man, that James Bond character that a lot of us maybe grew up with. I think it’s still quite sought-after by a lot of people.

“Whereas my experience is when you’re a bit more open and vulnerable, that can actually lead to stronger relationships, and therefore more joy, connection and fulfilment. And yet still we’re drawn to being closed off.”