Helping the men in your life seek mental health help
June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, an important initiative that raises awareness about the unique mental health challenges men face. This month’s campaign aims to encourage open conversations, reduce stigma, and normalize seeking help.
According to the Centre for Suicide Prevention, men die by suicide three times more often than women and are less likely to seek mental health help than women. They are also two to three times more likely than women to use substances in a way that harms them (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2017).
While we have seen the number of men seeking therapy increase, there is still a ways to go in supporting the men in our life with their mental health issues.
Why are men so reluctant to seek therapy? There could be a number of reasons:
1. Societal expectations of masculinity. Men are constantly bombarded with messages like “man up”, which can discourage emotional vulnerability and frame seeking support as a sign of weakness.
2. Substance abuse. Men are more likely to engage in substance abuse as a means to cope with stress, depression, or other mental health challenges rather than therapy as it is more socially acceptable and often encouraged.
3. Traditional gender roles. These gender roles often discourage men from seeking emotional support or developing close relationships. Men typically have fewer social support networks where they can talk openly and vulnerably about their emotions. Women are more likely to share their feelings with their friends whereas men often bottle up their emotions and express their mental health struggles differently.
4. Manifestation of behaviour. Men may manifest mental health issues through anger, irritability, aggression, or risk-taking behaviours rather than experiencing typical symptoms like sadness or anxiety. They often don't notice emotions within themselves like sadness, hopelessness.
How to support men in seeking help
We can help reduce the stigma around men seeking mental health support and change the narrative for future generations.
Challenge societal norms: Having conversations that challenge traditional gender roles and redefine masculinity can help create a more supportive environment for men to seek help without stigma. Men need to be able to share with other men that they go to therapy and see the value in expressing themselves in this way.
Start young: Teach your children the language of emotions and be cognizant of how we may treat boys and girls differently. We can also teach them how to recognize signs of struggle within themselves.
Training healthcare professionals: Providing training to health practitioners to recognize and address the unique challenges faced by men can improve the quality and accessibility of mental health services. Their signs of struggle can be different and harder to pick up on.
Know a man that could benefit from free mental health therapy in New Brunswick? Book an appointment with Just Us today!