The statistical difference between men seeking mental health care and women seeking mental health care is staggering. And it isn't because men don't need it. It's because we have, as a society, made it shameful for them to seek it. Men are emotional, men are fragile, men are human. They need to be allowed to be these things. The idea that "boys don't cry" is just as damaging as "women can't lead" in the societal sense.

I have known men to be abused by their female partners who don't even recognize it as abuse. The woman is just seen as "strong willed" or "independent" when in reality they are being emotionally manipulative and wreaking havoc on their man's self esteem, security and well-being. Men are less likely to report it as abuse because we don't often believe them. Women abuse men and women rape men. Men struggle with depression and anxiety and need help. It happens. And we very often ignore it. It's unacceptable.

I have always been more of a logical thinker rather than an emotional thinker. I prefer pragmatism to fluff, discipline to spontaneity, etc. And I have been accused of being cold many times. It made me think there was something wrong with me, that somehow I couldn't be that way if I was a woman. When I became an adult, I realized it had nothing to do with my femininity whatsoever. My personality is my personality.

Men deal with the same struggle. We encourage them to be stern, cold, logical. We shame them for crying, for struggling, for needing emotional support. And its so incredibly damaging to who they are as people.

EVERYONE is different. Men, women, what have you. You are not defined by the social gender stereotypes we have created. Abuse, mental illness, pain, it is not sequestered to a single sex. They are part of the human experience.

The Counseling Directory states the following:

Mental health problems can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, race or social background. Despite this however, studies have shown that certain mental illnesses affect men and women differently.

Perhaps the most interesting (and worrying) finding is that while on average more women are diagnosed with common mental health problems than men, the rate of male suicide is significantly higher.

This suggests that men are suffering with mental distress, but may not be receiving (or indeed asking for) the help they need. On this page we will look at some statistics surrounding men's mental health, and how talk therapy can help.

This is a disturbing thought, that men feel they can't seek help. We have created a culture of falsified masculinity that often denies men their humanity. In fact, 4 out of 5 suicides are men. And for men under 35, suicide is the leading cause of death. This is not a coincidence. This is our culture.

Please, don't marginalize an entire sex. Let men be human and fallible and emotional. We can no longer afford this kind of falsely defined masculinity that hurts so many men (and women) and breaks down relationships between the two. Pain, depression, anxiety, these things don't make them any less of a man. Tears don't make them any less of a man. Sensitivity and vulnerability don't make them any less of a man.