Link – What Men Really Think About Mental Health Stigma

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

GuysGetDepression

“Talking about mental health is the first step to eliminating the negative stereotype around it — but for men, this can be particularly challenging.

Approximately 6 million American men have depression each year, yet research shows many are reluctant to disclose their mental illness symptoms and are averse to seeking treatment. This is a dangerous trend considering mental health issues have the potential to lead to suicide — an act that results in more than 40,000 deaths in the United States each year.”

This cannot continue. Something has to change, somehow we have to make it easier for anyone who needs help to find a way to get it, without stigma, and without shame.

What Men Really Think About Mental Health Stigma

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If the US Lacks Resources, What Does Mental Health Care in Nigeria Look Like?

If the US Lacks Resources, What Does Mental Health Care in Nigeria Look Like?

ByMikeM Reading Time: 3 minutes

In the article there’s even a story of a man who was chained up in a room with no windows for 30 years, who suffered from psychosis. Which is terrible.

But, isn’t this just the same stigma we have here too? Is it any “better” that we have people living on the streets or in prison when they suffer from psychosis or delusions? Aren’t we just locking them away in a different way, because we understand that we don’t actually have any way to help them, so we just want to ignore the issue?

In Nigeria, there is less than one psychiatrist per 100,000 people. 0.15, in fact. There is no rational way that someone suffering with psychosis in Nigeria is going to get professional help with those kinds of numbers, yet rather than coming together to support the families involved, they feel so much shame about having a “sick” family member that they try and hide them away for years, or completely abandon them to the streets.

Sharing – Landmark research reveals ‘horrific’ mental health crisis facing Australian truck drivers

Sharing – Landmark research reveals ‘horrific’ mental health crisis facing Australian truck drivers

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

I’m glad to see people in Australia starting to understand this bit of reality: “”This is about the whole industry stepping up and saying we’ve got a major problem and we need to address this,” Mr Benson said. “The economic reality is we won’t actually have people to drive our trucks or to work in…

Sharing – I wrote a memoir about abuse. That doesn’t mean you’re entitled to every detail

Sharing – I wrote a memoir about abuse. That doesn’t mean you’re entitled to every detail

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

Every survivor has the freedom to choose how, when, and in what detail, they want to share their story. You can ask for more, but you also have to respect the survivor’s choice to not answer. They don’t owe you that. The only time it’s really even appropriate to press for details if you’re a criminal prosecutor trying to help the survivor bring the abuser to justice.

Outside of that very specific situation? No, we don’t owe you anything. You can support a survivor without knowing all the details. In fact, respecting their boundaries around what they decide to share, is one great way to support them in their healing. They’ve already had too many people not respect their boundaries.

Sharing – How I Got Better at Sharing My Story

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ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

They can’t go down to the local community college and sign up for a class where they can practice explaining all of the complexities of their mental health in simple terms. They’re experimenting with what works, what is comfortable, what is confusing, etc. Give them some space to do that and know that when they are still at this uncomfortable level they trust you to be someone they want to talk to.

Don’t ruin it for them by being dismissive or not listening. They need you to listen and they need practice in telling their stories. Be the same place for that.

College Student Dealing with Mental Health Issues? You Might be in the Majority.

College Student Dealing with Mental Health Issues? You Might be in the Majority.

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

This might just mean that the majority of the people around us right now are likely dealing with some sort of mental health struggle. This would also mean that there is nothing wrong with us, that we are the normal ones. That there is no weakness in us, or something lacking in us, but rather that we are having a normal reaction to a world that is causing anxiety and depression.

The fix is out there, not inside of us. We can only do what we can to cope, take care of ourselves, and find the tools that allow us to continue, but the real solution is much larger than that. The real solution will require much more. The real solution to mental health issues is fixing society and the world we live in.

If you want solutions, that’s where you start. How do we build a world where being anxious and depressed isn’t an understandable and normal reaction?

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