Mental Health with Men

“We’re human too” is a phrase that many men silently relate to, as the commonality of their unfortunate mental health issues often go undiagnosed and unrepresented. This claim was made by one student here at DSC named Sabian Evans. He refers to his mental health as “an inner battle going on in my mind.” Another DSC student named Dawson Taylor states that “A lot of the time men are overlooked with mental health, and the psyche behind it is that men are just supposed to suck it up.”

As I did these interviews on this heavy topic, I discovered how much men feel the need to suffer in silence due to the things they were raised to believe by the men in their lives and the roles society placed them in. When it comes to men and women, society will often tell women what they need to be, such as beautiful and kind. Then you compare what society tells men, which is that they must have certain things in order to be worthy of a woman, those things being money, a car, and a well-paying job for instance. 

Social media can play a large role in mental health as well. “If they (strangers on social media) didn’t like it, or someone responded something mean…they care about their opinion.” says Jospeh Cantens, the men’s basketball coach at DSC. Thus, social media “carries an impact onto your mental health,” he continues.

 When it comes to coping with mental health, Taylor says that finding hobbies, making a healthy diet, frequent exercise, proper sleep, and staying hydrated can help with the mental state. “Talking more real, having yourself a good support system in place,” he says. “If you are close with your family, then keep that bond tight. If not so much, then seeking out the right friends, either in the workplace or in the classroom goes a long way.”

The various stigmas against men’s mental health are exceedingly prominent in today’s society, such as crying shows signs of weakness. “Young boys growing up learn that you have to bottle up your emotions, that it is what it is and that you have to be a man about it, but I think it’s really silly,” says Evans. He also mentions how important it is to learn that “it is good to let it out, when you keep it in and bottle it in, you will soon explode.”

One thing that needs to be reminded of is that it is okay to not be okay. Pain and heartache are not something to mess around with or something that needs to be hidden. Not being okay is a part of life, it is a part of learning. Suicide is so prominent with men as well. They are taught so much that they need to suffer in the stillness of their minds. That they aren’t worth it if they don’t provide or fight or succeed. 

On a day-to-day basis, we never know how many men in our lives are in pain, feeling that they want to rip their faces off and scream at the world, only to remain silent. The pain that many go through is insurmountable, and some choose to end their lives. In 2022, the number of male suicides was 39,255, and for females, 10,194, according to an estimate by the CDC.

As a community, we need to start supporting the men in our lives. No one can ever know what is happening in someone’s head until it is too late, when the damage is done, and the pain ends, then starts anew. This article is in memory of all those men in our lives who could and are suffering from any signs of mental health, and all those men who we’ve lost to suicide. We see you and we hear you, you are human, and you are loved.