A NORTH East study has found major bushfires may promote mental health issues among men including anger, despair and depression.
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Researchers Debra Parkinson and Claire Zara spoke with 32 men for a report that will be launched in Melbourne next month and revisits the experiences of men affected by the Black Saturday bushfires.
Ms Parkinson and Ms Zara learned the emotions resulting from those fires remained raw among many men.
The Melbourne forum will be the first of its kind to examine the often hidden effects of disasters and their aftermath on men.
Ms Parkinson said those interviewed had described how the expectations related to being a man had weighed heavily on them during the bushfire disaster.
Yet, she said, society needed to understand it was unrealistic to have those expectations of men.
No doubt there are men who will have had a similar experience during the most recent bushfires, particularly in the Blue Mountains where homes were lost.
There is the potential for some valuable insights to be garnered from next month’s forum that will allow the community to lift some of that load from men’s shoulders.