Changing the Conversation Around Men’s Mental Health Beyond the Game

At StFX, football players are often recognized for what they do on the field. What isn’t always visible is what happens off the field: the pressure to perform, the weight of expectations, and the personal struggles that do not pause for game day.

For fifth-year football player Nathan Cayouette, men’s mental health advocacy grew out of his own experience navigating those pressures. “What inspired me was, in my second year, I was going through mental health struggles,” Cayouette explained. “Being a student athlete, just learning about that experience, and then talking to other athletes and other people around me, I realized they were struggling too. But looking online, looking elsewhere, there weren’t really conversations about it.”

Instead of waiting for someone else to start it, Cayouette decided he would. “I decided that if I could be a voice for mental health, for advocating for men’s mental health and student athlete mental health, then I was willing to do it. I wanted to do it.”

His second year at StFX was marked by more than the usual pressures of balancing academics and athletics. “Kind of everything hit me at once,” he said. “And I tried to do it alone. I just kept everything in. But in reality, it just hurts you more.”

At a heavily football-centred school like StFX, athletes often operate in a very public space. It is a tight-knit campus community, where everyone is interconnected. “For my experience, it feels like when I’m walking around, I get evaluated,” he said. “My whole life, I’ve been in high-performance sports. I have to make sure I’m up to standards, representing the school, being the best person I can be, on the field and off the field.” Layered on top of that pressure is a broader social expectation and stigma placed on men. “Society shows us that if you speak up about mental health struggles, you’re weak,” he said. “There’s this perception that men have to be tough, strong 24/7. They can’t show any weakness. But if you try to be strong nonstop all the time, it’s going to hurt you eventually.”

Through advocacy and awareness, Cayouette looks to change that narrative. “It’s okay to not be okay,” he said. “If you’re feeling sad, you don’t have to hide it. You can talk to someone about it. You can show it. If someone judges you for that, that’s on them, not you.”

Looking on his past five years at StFX, Cayouette reflects on how he balanced being a student-athlete with a busy schedule and high expectations. “When I was in my early years, I had older guys I could go up to and talk about life,” he said. “Now I feel like I’m in the position where I’m the older guy. If anyone’s ever struggling, I can help them go through it.”

For first-year students and student athletes stepping onto campus for the first time, his advice is to not keep these struggles in. “If you feel anxious or sad about something, be vocal about it. Being vulnerable is scary, but if you can show vulnerability to someone, it’s going to be way better for your mental health.”

In talking about his future, Cayouette hopes to launch a podcast to create space for people of all ages and backgrounds to share their mental health stories. “Ever since I started talking about mental health, I’ve had conversations with 13-year-old boys and with 40-year-olds,” he said. “It’s not just athletes. It’s not just males. Everyone struggles.”