Every year,
International Men’s Day celebrates men and helps raise awareness of issues that
men face, including mental health challenges.
Male suicide
continues to be the biggest killer of men under the age of 45, according to the
charity Calm.
The fact
that men are three times more likely to take their own life demonstrates a
mental health tragedy among the ranks. However, what’s also troubling in the
context of International Men’s Day is the propensity, from some people, to
define manhood in often restricting ways.
A pervasive
narrative that continues to colour ideas of manhood is the ‘real men’ trope. A
brief look through Twitter sees that lots of people are still using this
descriptor to define men, and it ends up being exclusionary. One Twitter user
was criticised for writing: "The real man smiles in trouble, gathers
strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."
This is counterintuitive
for a day that is meant to amplify quiet voices and offer support to all types
of men.
With that in
mind, here are a few things to remember for International Men’s Day:
1. It isn’t
weak to talk about mental health.
On Good
Morning Britain, Dr Hilary Jones says:
Men are raised by their mothers and they
see illness as s sign of weakness. They think it’s a bout of courage not to say
anything so they store it all up and keep it within.
What they need to know is that doctors…they
will see people with anything. They are never going to laugh at them. Men need
to realise doctors are there for them.
According to
Men’s Health Forum, some 12.5 per cent of men in the UK suffer from a common
mental health disorder (depression, anxiety, phobia, obsessive compulsive
disorder and panic disorder).
Such
statistics suggest that male emotional and psychological distress “may emerge
in ways that do not fit comfortably within conventional approaches to
diagnosis".
2. Toxic
masculinity is alive and kicking.
Men are
often placed under enormous pressure from damaging definitions of masculinity.
A recent survey of 1,000 men aged 18-30 in the UK, US and Mexico found that
those who embrace rigid ideas of manhood are more likely to suffer depression,
engage in self harm and display risky behaviour like binge drinking.
These men
are also more likely to experience, and engage, in online and physical
bullying.
3. Men are
sexual assault victims, too.
Women bear
the brunt of sexual assault, with one in five women having experienced rape at
some point in their lives.
During
International Men’s Day, it is important to highlight that men can be victims
of these crimes, too. According to the National Sexual Violence resource centre,
one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives.
4. There
isn’t a catch-all for men. They’re different and have a variety of needs.
Men, like
women, have complex and wide-ranging needs. What works for one might not work
for another, and it's important when talking about men to take this diversity
into consideration. It's all well and good to call for men who suffer from
mental health disorders to get medicated, but it might be that therapy is more
useful. There isn't a "correct" way to be a man.
5. Queer men
and trans men are men, too.
Trans men
are men. Queer men are men. Let's repeat it altogether now.
Studies show
that almost half of trans young people have attempted suicide, and the tragedy
in that statistic is that it isn’t surprising, given the stigma attached to
being a trans man or woman.
People on
Twitter are reminding men (and women!) to include all identifying men in the
celebrations.
credit: indy100.com
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