Introduction to Mental Health Effects
While mental health can be an issue for people of all genders, races, socioeconomic statuses, etc., the fact that men struggle with mental health issues is largely ignored and overlooked.
Discussing mental illnesses can be hard and feel taboo even for people who do feel in tune with their emotions or people who feel emotionally supported by their community. Unfortunately, many men were discouraged from expressing sadness, anxiety, vulnerability, etc. as children and teenagers, so they both feel unable to ask for help as adults and feel like they would not be supported if they did ask for help. This can result in severe mental health issues that are made more severe by them being shoved under the rug.
Men with stereotypically macho behaviors or desires (such as wanting to hold power over women) have poorer mental health and are less likely to seek help for mental health issues (source).
Statistics
- 70% of all suicides are committed by white middle-aged men
- 90% of those suicides are committed by men of a lower socioeconomic status (source).
- There are 3.5x as many male victims of suicide as there are female victims (source),
- Despite women being up to twice as likely to report depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses (source)
- AND despite women being 2 to 4 times more likely than men to attempt suicide (source).
AND IT’S GETTING WORSE
(source)
Although people may think that society is becoming more progressive and gender quality is improving, men’s mental health could actually be getting worse. Between 1999 and 2014, suicide rates have increased by 24% for all humans and 43% for men aged 45-64 (source).
Men are expected to constantly be strong and brave and are never given the space to ever falter or express vulnerability. This can be incredibly taxing on young men and cause them to unhealthily repress emotions or lash out in destructive ways (source).
Since many men do not have substantial experience dealing with emotions besides anger, control, coldness, etc., they are uncomfortable when other emotions occur and either convert them into aggressive, more acceptable feelings, or turn to other forms of coping, such as drugs, alcohol, etc. (source). Men largely underestimate the emotional and psychological toll that having to constantly maintain an invincible, powerful, and macho bravado can take on them, and it can have fatal results (source).