Experts are sounding the alarm over declining mental health among young men in Canada, with federal data showing that since 2012, mood disorders and anxiety among men aged 15 to 24 have increased significantly. For instance, self-reported mood disorders rose from 11% to 16%, while generalized anxiety disorders jumped from 4% to 10%. Additionally, those reporting their mental health as "very good" or "excellent" dropped from 70% to 52% during the same period. Health Minister Marjorie Michel emphasizes that social media and online gambling are significant contributors to this trend, with emergency room visits for gambling disorders doubling since 2022, largely due to psychological crises among young men linked to gambling losses.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The mental health of young men is dropping.
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health → drop → men
Experts warn it could get worse
Federal government launched consultation earlier this year to determine why boys and men are suffering
On the surface, Nick Cholmsky looked like a thriving teenager.
uncertain
Cholmsky → warn → teenager
Growing up in Ottawa, he says he was athletic and heavily involved in basketball, had friends and a close relationship with his family.
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he → grow → family
But underneath all that he says he was deeply depressed.
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he → say → that
The symptoms began in middle school and became much worse by Grade 11.
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symptoms → begin → Grade
At 16, he had begun entertaining suicidal thoughts.
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he → begin → thoughts
Even as his depression and anxiety grew stronger, Cholmsky believed he couldn’t say anything, because "being a man" meant pushing negative thoughts down, and that any sign of weakness would cause him shame.
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sign → grow → shame
"Looking back, so much of that [congenial attitude] was for sure just a performance, me acting the way I thought I was supposed to act as a man," said Cholmsky, now 21.
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Cholmsky → look → man
There’s a common problem everywhere and it’s how men and boys are feeling.
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men → ’ → ?
And they are not feeling great.-
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they → feel → ?
Earlier this year, the federal government reported on a wide range of data showing that the mental health of young men has deteriorated since 2012.
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health → report → 2012
Between 2012 and 2022, the number of men aged 15 to 24 who self-reported mood disorders increased from 11 per cent to 16 per cent, while self-reported generalized anxiety disorders increased from four per cent to 10 per cent.
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disorders → age → cent
Those who reported their mental health as "very good" or "excellent" plummeted from 70 per cent to 52 per cent in that same time period.
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who → report → period
A separate report shows that men are three times as likely as women to commit suicide and that it's the second-leading cause of death in boys aged 15 to 34 (after unintentional injuries).
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it → show → injuries
"There’s a common problem everywhere and it’s how men and boys are feeling.
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men → ’ → ?
And they are not feeling great," federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel told CBC News.
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Michel → feel → News
"There is a lot of anxiety [about] their role as men and boys."
Social media use, gambling major issues
Research implicates a variety of factors in men’s depression, most prominently social isolation, social media use and online sports betting.
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Research → be → depression
Data from the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows a huge rise in young men calling helplines with gambling addictions.
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men → show → addictions
(Health Canada reports men are three times more likely than women to have a gambling problem.)
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men → report → problem
Canada legalized single-event sports betting in 2021.
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Canada → legalize → 2021
In 2022, Ontario became the first province to allow private companies to operate alongside government-regulated industry.
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companies → become → industry
A separate report released this month by the Institute for Clinical Evaluation Sciences (ICES) showed that since 2022, emergency room visits for gambling disorders had doubled — largely with young men showing up in a psychological crisis, such as suicidal ideation or psychosis, as a result of gambling losses.
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men → release → losses
"The gambling stats didn’t surprise me at all when I heard them," said Cholmsky.
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Cholmsky → surprise → them
"I saw kids in middle school gambling.
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I → see → school
"
Whether the stress is the result of gambling or something else, Cholmsky says online messaging encourages boys and men to stay silent.
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messaging → say → boys
"When I was going through some of my worst mental health times, I was online a lot and it was really the height of Andrew Tate," Cholmsky said.
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Cholmsky → go → Tate
The U.S.-born Tate is one of the best-known influencers in the manosphere, famous for espousing strict rules for being an alpha male, such as maximizing fitness, maintaining control over relationships and emotions and making as much money as possible.
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Tate → know → money
He retains a large following despite being in U.S. detention on multiple criminal charges, including sex trafficking.
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He → retain → trafficking
"[Tate's] message, and a lot of that manosphere messaging for boys, is 'be a man, be tough, make lots of money,'" Cholmsky said.
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Cholmsky → make → money
Influencer Braden Peters, also known as Clavicular, has amassed a huge following telling young boys sometimes to smash their own faces with hammers to be more conventionally beautiful.
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Peters → know → hammers
His content has more than 40 million likes.
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content → have → likes
Peters was charged with rape last month.
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Peters → charge → rape
Experts warn dangerous role models like this can have real-world impacts.
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models → warn → impacts
"The manosphere is radicalizing young boys who don’t know where they fit — and that should concern us all," said John Oliffe, Canada research chair in men’s health promotion at the University of British Columbia.
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Oliffe → radicalize → Columbia
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Oliffe says this was "amplified" by the earliest parts of the COVID-19 pandemic when global lockdowns increased isolation and the loss of social connection.
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lockdowns → know → connection
Vulnerable teenagers often found themselves lost online.
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themselves → find → ?
"There continues to be a whole world of pain in some of that unregulated content," Oliffe said.
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Oliffe → continue → content
Adam Kunder, a 33-year-old former firefighter who lives in Toronto, says he also felt he needed to keep his problems quiet.
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he → live → problems
He suffered mental health issues and hit "rock bottom" before beginning to find help in the summer of 2024.
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He → suffer → 2024
"As a man, you think you are supposed to be strong, push any bad feelings down, suppress depression or sadness or fear," he said.
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he → think → depression
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
