Yet it’s common to hear about the poor mental health of someone who has used violence – things like “they were under a lot of stress” or “they’d been holding on, then just snapped”.
But mental ill-health doesn’t cause violence, and it never excuses it. As an excuse, it unfairly shifts the responsibility to the victim by suggesting they should have been able to manage the moods and behaviour of the person using violence. It can also place pressure on people who experience the violence to forgive the use of violence, and prevent them from seeking support.
Would improving men’s mental health reduce rates of violence?
Generally, improving men’s mental health would likely make a positive difference in reducing violence. Supporting men’s mental health should mean supporting men to express their full range of emotions safely – and move away from anger and aggression as the only 'acceptable’ ways for men to express how they’re feeling.
Men who believe harmful ideas of what it means to be a man – including the pressure to act tough and avoid emotional vulnerability are both more likely to report having used violence and report frequent symptoms of poor mental health. These men are more likely to experience thoughts of suicide and self-harm, be depressed, and struggle with problematic drinking or gambling. So supporting men’s mental health and prevention of violence work can and should go hand in hand.
Mental health promotion efforts can help men know they don’t always need to be tough and stoic, making it “okay” to feel and share a fuller range of healthy emotions, and to seek help. All of this can help prevent potential use of violence.
However, it’s important that men’s mental health programs address, and are mindful of, the root causes of gendered violence, to make sure they aren’t unintentionally supporting gendered stereotypes (like “good providers have to take care of their mental health” or the idea that being “in control” of emotions is good mental health).
Women and girls' mental health
In Australia, data shows that young women have significantly poorer mental health than their male peers, including higher rates of suicidal ideation and self harm. Australian boys and young men do have a higher rate of death by suicide than their female peers, but girls and young women have significantly higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and of serious self harm. Contributors to this include:
- childhood experiences of family violence
- misogyny in schools
- societal attitudes that reinforce dominant forms of masculinity
- pressure to conform to beauty standards.
People who have experienced violence can experience stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, phobias and disassociation because of the violence they experienced. These understandable responses to trauma can be disabling and interfere with a person’s ability to engage with their families, work, and communities, and their ability to recover from violence. Having access to holistic, trauma-informed mental health care is critical for healing and recovery from violence.