Identifying places that foster mental health and well-being among rural men.

Drawing together research on therapeutic landscapes and rural men's mental health, this article explores where men living with mental health challenges feel well. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 men experiencing mental health challenges to collect in-depth information about their experiences in rural places. Study participants identified strategies to promote their well-being, including using everyday places for relief, relaxation, and to escape judgement; finding spaces for social connection; and helping others. Despite facing some challenges accessing everyday therapeutic landscapes, men's narratives highlight hidden rural amenities, countering deficit framings of rural places and revealing place-based strategies for supporting rural men.

"Talk about it:" changing masculinities and mental health in rural places?

Rural men's mental health has been described by some scholars as a "silent crisis." Rural men report lower levels of stress and depression and, paradoxically, much higher rates of suicide and substance use. Research has linked rural men's silence to dominant forms of masculinity with limited consideration of how masculinities are changing within and across rural places. In this article, we draw together literature on changing masculinities, rural places, and rural men's mental health to explore how, where, and with whom rural men talk about mental health; as well as their perspectives of what it means to be a healthy man. To collect in-depth information about men's perceptions and experiences of mental health and masculinity, the study employed semi-structured interviews with 23 adult male participants (aged 20-79 years) in Manitoba, Canada. Men in the study described the complex dynamics of talking about mental health with spouses, other family members, friends, and in the community. Many men wanted to talk about their mental health and some men actively developed relationships to support "talking about it;" however, they also identified competition, gossip, and stigma in relation to talking about mental health in the community. Most men in the study resisted hegemonic masculinities and some men aspired to more balanced, relational, and caring ideals. Men in the study identified community and environmental challenges to talking about mental health and changing masculinities in rural places. We argue that addressing the so-called silent crisis of rural men's mental health requires greater attention to community change and rural development to support relationships and places to talk about mental health.