(MEN)tal Health
Men. I’m looking at you. We have a tendency to bottle things up, or downplay things. Hospital emergency departments know that if a farmer turns up, things must be really serious.
According to Beyond Blue, one in eight men will experience depression and one in five men will experience anxiety at some stage of their lives, and men make up seven out of every nine suicides every single day in Australia. Nearly twice as many men die of suicide in Australia every year than the national road toll.
It’s complicated by stigma and concepts of masculinity. The idea that help-seeking or talking about problems and feelings is a sign of weakness. Perpetuating these thoughts is not only harming men’s health, it is literally killing people. And it needs to stop.
Society has traditionally shaped boys from a young age, implicitly and explicitly reinforcing masculine traits of self-reliance, independence, strength and stoicism. Now these are all positive traits that are useful in many parts of life, but they can be problematic when thinking about how we care for our mental health. Masculinity teaches men to ‘suck it up’ and ‘tough it out’ when they are experiencing pain, and this applies even more so to emotional pain.
That farmer might draw on those traits of self-reliance, independence and strength in the face of droughts and floods, but there is a point when he needs to be vulnerable and be able to talk about his feelings to help manage the many stressors he is facing. Being a ‘bloke’ in all situations is a barrier to help-seeking and looking after mental wellbeing. It pushes many men to unhelpful coping strategies such as alcohol or substance use. Not surprisingly, men who are more likely to conform to these masculine norms tend to report worse mental health outcomes than those who don’t.
Encouraging healthy conversations about mental health and being more vulnerable are important steps in helping to overcome some of these barriers to improving men’s mental health and wellbeing.
Check in on your mental wellbeing here. If you are struggling, reach out to one of your mates for a chat. Or seek professional support.