We recently celebrated all men on International Men’s Day and the theme for this year was ‘Better Health for men and boys’. I felt that this was a great time to speak out about men and mental health. Mental illness does not distinguish between any gender but it is known that suicide and depression are ranked as the leading cause of death among men. This startling statistic may cause one to concur that more men may be seeking help for mental health problems but men are known to be least likely to seek mental health treatment when compared to women. Most men have difficulty admitting that they have a problem and are more hesitant to seek help. Men have been conditioned to be strong, to remain emotionally stoic, to be independent and to be the protectors of their families. In light of this when they encounter any problems or signs that do not align with these conditioning they view it as a weakness and prefer to silently struggle than seek help.
The shame and guilt that they experience cause men to ignore all the signs that may be indicating that they are overwhelmed. They then may attempt to fix the problem themselves and remain in denial. This them becomes problematic, because untreated mental health illness often manifests into physical ailments and many persons may begin to abuse alcohol, drugs or even their family members in order to cope.
It is important for us to recondition our men and boys and to help break the stigma attached to seeking help for physical or mental ailments. Our men need to know that it is ok to reach out to someone when they are not feeling their best and that it does not make them appear weak. They need to know that they are supported and just as they carry their vehicles for regular maintenance check up they too need a MENtal check up.
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