Mens Mental Health Awareness

Mental Health America says men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women. men are told that showing emotions like stress, sadness and showing any emotions that would be considered more feminine was a sign of weakness. Society tells men that feeling these emotions is shameful, said Mitchell Harmon, a therapist with Kent Psychological Associates.

I would say the two commonalities I see the most is there’s a lot of shame regarding mental health and not even just, I would say mental health, but specifically like a lot of men tend to think ‘I’m not allowed to have emotions.’ I would say the predominant emotion that I see a lot of males come in with, or at least the one that they’re most willing to talk about, is anger.”

This shame and anger can create a vicious cycle causing men to feel trapped with their own mental health. They feel ashamed for feeling sad or depressed, which can lead to them feeling more depressed and angry. This feedback loop can lead men to feel the only way out is to end their lives says Harmon

A common trend in male suicide is that men are more likely to kill themselves with firearms than women. 

“men tend to pick the more violent methods for completing suicide than women. Amount of stigma around mental health and being able to talk openly about emotions is positively correlated with suicidal ideation and suicidal completion.”

Many men will also develop tendencies toward alcoholism or other addictive substances to try to cope with their mental health issues. Mental Health America reports that one in five men develop alcohol dependency during their lives.

Before the pandemic, there was a greater stigma around mental health said Luke Barker, the clinical manager and a certified clinical counselor at Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County, said. People were less likely to discuss their issues openly, but after the pandemic, many more people were likely to talk with family and friends about their struggles and more celebrities began to discuss their issues as well. He said the pandemic brought everyone together in a way that only a crisis like it could

“It was very easy to relate to one another about something that was this massive. So a lot of people believe that no one will ever understand how they feel. But when you take something like a global pandemic, you automatically have something that everyone can relate to.”

This increase in discussion slowly paved the way for men to be able to more openly discuss their issues. Barker said there is still a long way to go but there are ways to start the process of healing.

Hamron says the field of Psycology is made up predominantly female and that this could also be having an effect on the amount of men who seek help. The percentage of men working as counselors in the field is only 24%, while women make up the other 76% according to ZIppa. Barker explained that more male therapists would allow men to be able to test the waters of therapy with someone they may feel more comfortable talking with. Being able to talk to individuals who can relate  with your struggles. He said  one thing that can help lower these numbers is to train and hire more male therapists.

“There’s a massive shortage in staffing in literally every field, but especially mental health,” said Barker I think, you know, aiming recruitment for college and master-level programs for mental health and the human services field, and aiming to get men involved in that. I mean, we could get more people just to get their foot in the door.”

Both Therapists agree that the most important way to decrease the amount of Men struggling with mental health issues is to begin to have more open and accepting conversations around mental health. nd that it is okay to feel these emotions and that asking for help is okay says Harmon and Barker. Barker expressed how happy he was with how colleges have began to work towards discussing mental health.

“Ohio University down in Athens, makes required to at least sit in on a presentation orientation about mental health,” said Barker. “You can’t really force people to go to therapy or anything like that, obviously. But to introduce the idea of mental health, I think any agency or school or organization that does that is the gold standard because that’s what needs to happen across the board. Kent State, I believe, has a mental health intro course or at least something in the orientation where they talk about it and push it.

While we may be in a dark place for men’s mental health, but it doesn’t need to stay that way. With open conversations and more male therapists in the field and getting individuals who may be struggling with access to resources, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel after all. 

If you are struggling with mental health issues or thoughts of suicide there is help out there. Below are some resources that can help.

Help Network of North Eastern Ohio

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 

NAMI Resource Guide for Those Experiencing A Mental Health Emergency 800-950-6264