Sharp rise in men’s mental health issues

Team L&M

• This Father’s Day, Mpower sounds the alarm on India’s growing men’s mental health crisis: 5-year helpline data reveals urgent need for systemic action
• Men speak up: Average call duration for male callers increases year-on-year, indicating growing emotional openness
• 126% rise in male mental health helpline calls from 2020 to 2024, with relationship issues and anxiety leading the concerns

On the occasion of Father’s Day 2025, Mpower—an initiative by the Aditya Birla Education Trust—unveiled new insights into a critical yet often overlooked issue: the mental health of men in India.

A comprehensive five-year analysis of Mpower’s mental health helpline data shows a steady rise in male callers from 2020 to 2024. This trend highlights a significant shift in how men are approaching their emotional well-being, signaling a slow but meaningful erosion of stigma around seeking mental health support. Over this period, the helpline has provided a total of 141,212 hours of counseling, underscoring its pivotal role in supporting mental health across diverse demographics.

Key Insights from the Helpline:

• Total Male Callers (2020–2025): 19,750
• Peak Year: 2024, with 8,362 male callers
• Average Call Duration:15 minutes for men, compared to 9.55 minutes for women
• Total Calls Received (All Genders): 114,776

Over the years, the concerns reported by male callers have evolved. In 2020, top issues included abuse, low self-esteem, and suicidal ideation. By 2021, anxiety and depression took center stage. Since 2022, relationship issues have increasingly emerged alongside anxiety and depression, with persistent concerns about psychological distress becoming more common.

This changing emotional landscape, coupled with a dramatic spike in male callers in 2024, underscores a shift in how men experience and express emotional vulnerability—especially among new fathers who increasingly report feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or isolated.

Rima Bhandekar, Clinical Psychologist and Head of the Mpower Helpline at Mpower—an initiative by the Aditya Birla Education Trust—stressed the urgent need for inclusive mental health reform: “The data from our helpline is a wake-up call. As we celebrate fathers today, we must also acknowledge the silent emotional struggles many of them face. Beneath the image of strength and responsibility often lies unspoken anxiety, self-doubt, and isolation. We’re increasingly coming across young, new fathers who feel overwhelmed — unsure of their ability to care for their child and burdened by expectations. These emotions are not signs of weakness, but clear indicators of mental health distress that deserve our attention and care.

It’s time we move toward Acceptance, Action, and Advocacy—to break the stigma and build a mental health ecosystem that supports everyone, irrespective of gender. It’s essential that we extend mental health resources—such as counselling, emotional support, and peer networks—to fathers as a standard part of care, not an exception. Recognizing their emotional needs is not indulgent; it’s integral to building resilient families and healthier communities.”

To all those people ourt there, celebrate the fathers in their lives, and support their emotional well-being, creating a future where mental health care is accessible, normalised, and prioritised as an essential component of holistic well-being.

Struggling with mental health issues? Call up  1800-120-820050