Sharing – How to lower a troubling male suicide rate? End the myths about emotions.

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

Some interesting thoughts about men and emotions from a therapist, including this:

Ironically, one idea that is often presented as a strength — “men are unemotional and logical, while women are emotional” — is rooted in a multi-gender myth. If men are unemotional, how do we have the highest rates of: death by suicide, murders committed, domestic violence, substance abuse, infidelity (though the gap is closing) and heart attacks?

Boys and men aren’t unemotional. But outside of sports, we’re rarely given healthy and sober opportunities to learn how to manage our emotions.

I’ve seen this time and time again. As men, we might even be told that we should be open to our emotions, but there are still very few spaces for men to show emotion. Sports is one example of a space where we can show excitement or disappointment. Sometimes, we can show more complex emotions, but only in romantic relationships—never with friends.

He also discusses the limited range of emotions usually deemed acceptable for men. Note how we are allowed to have anger and how it gets used as the cover for several more complicated emotions. That might also explain why men with depression don’t come across as sad but angry and thus don’t get diagnosed with depression as often as women. It doesn’t “look” like the depression we see in the media.

Read more at the link, and let’s discuss ways to make it more acceptable for men to express strong emotions in ways beyond fandom and anger.

https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article289695029.html

If you are struggling with your mental health right now, please take a look for a local organization that can help here – Find Help.

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