11 Things You Can Do To Break The Stigma Surrounding Men's Mental Health | The Odyssey Online
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11 Things We Can All Do To Break The Stigma Surrounding Men's Mental Health

The real way to "man up" is to acknowledge the downfalls in unjust societal norms.

Jennifer Kustanovich
Sep 15, 2020
The State University of New York at Stony Brook
82031
11 Things We Can All Do To Break The Stigma Surrounding Men's Mental Health
Unsplash

In our patriarchal society, men hide from their feelings, but toxic masculinity is literally killing men. They swallow the pain and move on so that they can look, feel, and act "tough."

But, strength is derived from asking for help and voicing your struggle and, trust me, working on your mental health is one hell of a struggle. The real way to "man up" is to acknowledge the downfalls in unjust societal norms. Mental health problems do not mean that a man is weak, they are neurologically-based disorders that require professional treatment.

No one talks about the stigma that comes with emotional men, but men die by suicide at a higher rate than women and it's being pushed under the rug.

Suicide is a male-dominant problem, and here are 11 things you can do to help:

1. Reach out to your guy friends and remember to support them.

2. Encourage all genders and sexualities to talk about mental health.

3. Educate yourself about the facts.

4. Share resources on your social medias.

5. Normalize therapy for all genders and sexualities.


Men are "far less likely to seek mental health treatment than women," yet therapy is for everyone. If someone had a fever, they would go get help — the same goes for mental health.

6. Talk to friends and family about toxic masculinity.

7. Include all genders in suicide awareness.

8. Know the symptoms and look out for them.

9. Listen to how you talk about mental health and learn the most adaptive verbiage.

10. Create safe spaces for hard conversations.

11. Get involved in awareness campaigns and organizations.


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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