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Sharing – 70% of Calls to India’s National Mental Health Helpline Were From Men
One, it’s clear that talking about mental health issues is something that younger people are more comfortable with, and the prevalence of people under 40 who called this helpline shows that.
Two, the fact that this helpline was completely anonymous, and that most of the callers were men, would indicate that the stigma surrounding men asking for help is still alive and well, in India, and I would guess many other places as well. But, give them a way for them to discuss it anonymously, and they’ll be on it.
So how do we address that stigma so men don’t have to find an anonymous helpline and can talk about mental health issues among family, friends, and therapists.
Why do we get Stressed About Replying Quickly?
My first thought, obviously, was about the workplace and the culture we have created there that rewards being “always-on” but I think so much of this pressure permeates beyond work. As technology has become commonplace we all live with this pressure and this expectation. Think about it, how many times in a given week are you apologizing to friends and family because you couldn’t get back to them right away?
I do it all the time.
Heck, I’ve gotten text messages while having lunch or dinner with a friend, catching up with someone I haven’t gotten to see much for the last couple of years, and then apologized for doing that and being unavailable. Why? That makes no sense but we live in a culture where being connected to technology all the time also means that we should be responsive all the time. Or at least we feel like we should. Frankly, that’s a lot of pressure.
Link – Uplifting letters from those who have battled depression to fellow sufferers tell them ‘that it can and does get better’
This is a pretty cool idea, because as I’ve said many times, someone with depression needs to know that they are not the only one who has ever been in this struggle, and that there is hope. “Their letters and the others in the book, are so powerful because they’re all from people who have…