According to a report by Mental Health Foundation, One out of eight men is suffering from any of the mental health issues. We often undermine the mental health of men and have permanently restricted them as a society in a way that they aren’t as open as they should be about their mental state and conditions.
Organizations can discriminate on the basis of gender, but mental health issues don’t. Anyone can have issues related to mental health despite gender. But the signs and symptoms may vary because of the difference in hormonal levels between men and women. Then why all the sympathy goes with women only? No doubt, Terms like mental health are new for our society, but it’s high time for society to be open to accepting these things and supporting them because it’s the only thing that a person facing mental health issues is in need of.
Mental health is the state of how well-being reacts, how he deals with sadness and happiness, his productivity and what is his contribution to the community.
Mental health gets affected when someone faces unfavorable events in his or her life like unemployment, failure, breakup, and childhood trauma and there are many more causes of mental health issues.
We as a society can’t fix the issues but at least we can make other’s lives easier to be less judgemental, being good listeners sometimes, implementing fewer restrictions and providing a better world to live for others.
Everyone is struggling with a lot of unshared problems but Women are more likely to share their problems and men are restricted to being strong all the time. Men deal with their things alone which makes their journey of healing harder. Some common mental health problems that affect men include depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.
Symptoms of Mental Health issues
See, There are some common symptoms in men and women but there are few symptoms which are seen in men only. Here are symptoms that are usually faced by men
- Suicidal thought
- Change in appetite
- Lose interest in things that were once enjoyable
- Less productivity
- Less motivated all the time
- Sleeping too much or having difficulty in sleeping
- Absence of self-care
- Isolated
- Feeling Frustrated in dealing with even small problems
- Change in mood and in energy level
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Sudden ache in any part of the body
- Increase in frequency of mood swings
Why don’t men seek help?
Men are more likely to underreport mental health issues because men always carry the burden of toxic masculinity. They are always told not to cry. They are told that they are strong. They have to earn bread for other members of the family. They always have to support women and children. In all this pressure and fulfilling the parameters given by society to them, they forget that they are human beings too.
According to the report by the Centers for Disease Control says that The number of death by suicide of men is almost four times of the death of women’s death by suicide.
While the registered cases of mental health issues in women are double that of men. So this data clearly shows that men are less likely to accept that they are suffering from mental health issues. They suffer in silence. Gradually it becomes dreadful and symptoms can be worse
In a survey done on men, 79% of men were found who were dealing will mental health issues. Among them, 40% of them never spoke to anyone about their mental health. Men don’t share their issues because they think that :
- They don’t want to appear weak
- They have learned to deal with it
- They have no one to talk to
- They don’t want to admit they need support
- They don’t want to be a burden to anyone
- There is a negative stigma around society about it
How to cope with mental health issues
After finding out that something is odd with you and what you are feeling is not normal and it would be issues related to mental health. These are the things a person can do to help himself
- Talk to your friend or anyone you feel comfortable with and share all the things which are making you weak inside.
- Be gentle to yourself, listen to your heart and body
- Try to reach out to help online
- Forgive yourself for the bad decision which triggers you all the time
- Do exercise or any kind of workout you like to do
- Have good food as it can really work as a mood changer
- Avoid being alone as it leads to overthinking which causes stress unnecessarily
- Consulting the doctor would be a good decision. The psychotherapy they provide is really helping to come out of the wrong zone and sometimes medication is also prescribed in a more severe case of mental health issue
- Don’t forget that you are in survival mode so to be less productive is alright. Because all the energy is utilized by the body just to survive.
- Be more selfish and take a decision that makes you happy irrespective of what others will think
- Accept yourself for what you are and understand that there is nothing like failure in this world. Life is just a journey so live it to its fullest.
Conclusion
It’s time to keep aside the stigma related to mental health and try to reach out for help. Mental help is as important as oxygen for survival. Society must ensure that such an environment is provided to all in which men can share their problems without getting embarrassed. And last but not least, men should understand that nothing is more important than their life and that it must be their preferred thing.
