What I Took from the Men’s Mental Health Conference 2026

Royal College of Psychiatrists, London

By Steve Whittle

The Men’s Mental Health Conference 2026 at the Royal College of Psychiatrists brought together clinicians, academics, policymakers and system leaders to examine one central issue:

Why are men still dying by suicide at disproportionate rates - and what are we going to do differently?

It was a serious, high-level day. Research-heavy. Policy-aware. Clinically grounded.

What follows is what I took from each speaker — what aligns strongly with Tough To Talk’s upstream mission, and where I believe prevention needs to move further outside clinical walls.

Dr Lade Smith

Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist & President, Royal College of Psychiatrists UK

Dr Smith opened the conference with clarity and realism. As a forensic psychiatrist, she works with men at the sharpest end of crisis — often after harm has already occurred.

There was strong acknowledgement that:

• Men often present through behaviour rather than disclosure

• Trauma, substance use and identity instability are common

• Risk assessment must be nuanced and contextual

What aligns with Tough To Talk?

The understanding that male distress is often masked. That behaviour is communication. That silence doesn’t mean safety.

Where we differ is in timing.

Forensic psychiatry meets men when crisis has already escalated. Tough To Talk works long before that moment - in workplaces and communities where warning signs first appear.

Clinical expertise saves lives in crisis.

Upstream culture change aims to reduce how often crisis happens at all.

Baroness Gillian Merron

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women's Health and Mental Health

Baroness Merron spoke about parity, service reform and the government’s commitment to improving mental health provision.

It was encouraging to hear that male suicide was addressed within the national strategy.

There is, however, a certain irony.

We have a Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Health - and rightly so.

But we do not have a dedicated Minister for Men’s Health.

So when male suicide is discussed, it sits under “Mental Health” rather than under a clearly defined men’s health mandate.

We’ll just add men to the mental health brief as an afterthought.

The irony isn’t malicious — but it is telling.

When men account for around three-quarters of suicide deaths in the UK, perhaps it is time we stopped treating male suicide as a subsection and started treating it as a defined public health priority.

That said, policy momentum is building - and upstream organisations must be part of that conversation.

Dr Adrian James

NHS England National Medical Director for Mental Health

Dr James addressed system-level delivery and NHS responsibility.

The focus was on:

• Service demand• Workforce capacity

• Clinical pathways

• Improving crisis response

All essential.

But again, the centre of gravity remained inside the system.

At Tough To Talk, we ask:

How do we reduce the number of men reaching crisis services in the first place?

Not by criticising the NHS - but by strengthening the environments men inhabit daily.

The NHS must respond effectively.

But prevention cannot rely solely on the NHS.

Upstream prevention is not a replacement for clinical care - it is an expansion of responsibility.

Professor Rory O’Connor

School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow

Professor O’Connor’s work on suicide theory - particularly around entrapment, defeat and motivational-volitional models - is widely respected.

His framework recognises that:

• Suicidal ideation develops through psychological processes

• Feelings of entrapment are central

• The transition from ideation to action can be rapid

This strongly aligns with what we see in male-dominated industries.

Entrapment for men often looks like:

• Financial pressure• Relationship breakdown

• Career instability

• Identity collapse

Where his model meets ours is in recognising that suicidal behaviour is not random. It develops.

Where we extend it is into practical environments.

The theory explains the psychology.

We embed intervention into the culture where those feelings first show up.

Baroness Clare Gerada

Baroness Gerada brought both clinical insight and political understanding to the conversation.

She has long spoken about stigma within medicine itself - and the reluctance of professionals to seek help.

This is important.

Men in high-pressure environments - including doctors - often:

• Internalise stress

• Fear professional consequences

• See help-seeking as weakness

This aligns directly with our understanding of male-specific silence.

What I would add is this:

Stigma is not solved by messaging alone.

It is shifted by repeated, normalised behaviour.

You don’t reduce stigma through a campaign.

You reduce it when someone in your team says, “I’m not okay,” and the world doesn’t collapse.

Professor Divine Charura

Professor Charura spoke about trauma, relational depth and the human experience behind distress.

His contribution reminded the room that suicide is not simply data - it is lived pain.

The emphasis on:

• Compassion

• Listening

• Psychological safety

Aligns strongly with our value of Safety without Fear.

However, much of the framing is still centred around therapeutic spaces.

Tough To Talk operates where therapy does not naturally sit - on worksites, in depots, in industrial settings.

Compassion must travel beyond clinics.

Professor Robin Dunbar

Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, Oxford University

Professor Dunbar’s work on social connection and human bonding brought a different dimension.

His research into:

• Social group size

• Belonging

• Loneliness

• The biological importance of connection

Was one of the most compelling scientific reinforcements of upstream prevention.

If human beings are wired for connection, then isolation is not just emotional - it is physiological stress.

This aligns directly with our emphasis on:

• Peer networks

• Workplace belonging

• Practical kindness

Where academia provides the evolutionary rationale, we operationalise it inside male-centric cultures.

Professor Zaffer Iqbal

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull

Professor Iqbal’s focus on engagement with men and barriers to psychological access was one of the most practically aligned sessions.

There was recognition that:

• Language matters

• Traditional therapy models may not resonate with men

• Services must adapt

We share that belief.

We design language around how men communicate in real environments - not how services wish they would.

Where I think the next step lies is this:

Engagement is important.

But many high-risk men will not engage, even with improved services.

So we must build literacy and capability into environments that never look like therapy.

Philip Pirie

Philip’s contribution moved the conversation beyond research and into national consciousness.

He spoke passionately about stigma - not just clinical stigma, but cultural silence.

He referenced how public health campaigns in the 1980s around HIV/AIDS shifted public understanding dramatically. Not because the science changed overnight, but because the conversation did.

His call was clear:

The UK needs a bold, stigma-busting national campaign around male suicide.

One that:

• Names the issue plainly

• Challenges silence

• Reaches men outside clinical settings

• Makes early conversation normal

Not a soft awareness week. A sustained, unapologetic cultural intervention.

He asked for support in pressing the government to take this seriously.

On that, I support him fully.

We have run national campaigns before that changed behaviour - seatbelts, drink driving, and HIV. They were uncomfortable at first. They were direct. They were impossible to ignore.

Male suicide deserves the same seriousness.

Because silence has been far more dangerous than discomfort.

Final Reflection

The conference was serious. Evidence-rich. Clinically informed.

But most men who die by suicide are not sitting in lecture theatres, consulting rooms or policy meetings.

They are:

On worksites.

On night shifts.

In vans.

At home, silent.

The medical fraternity is essential.

But if prevention remains centred inside services, we will continue to miss the men who never enter them.

Suicide prevention must live in:

• Schools

• Colleges/universities

• Workplaces

• Communities

• Peer groups

• Everyday conversations

That is not anti-clinical.

It is complementary.

Psychiatry treats crisis.

Upstream culture change reduces its frequency.

If we want different outcomes, we must design prevention where men already are - not just where we wish they would go.

That is the space Tough To Talk occupies.

Upstream.

Practical

.Embedded.

Before crisis.

About the author.

Steve Whittle

Steve Whittle is an award-winning workplace suicide prevention specialist and the founder of Tough To Talk.

Drawing on lived experience of suicide attempts and bereavement, Steve has become a nationally recognised voice on male suicide prevention, working within male-dominated industries to address the cultural and structural factors that drive silence and risk.

A certified suicide first aid assessor and tutor, Steve advises organisations across industry, sport and the emergency services on embedding upstream prevention, strengthening early intervention and aligning practice with emerging standards such as BS 30480.

His work focuses on reducing suicide risk before crisis develops, building workplace capability, and reshaping cultures where men are more likely to struggle in silence than seek support.