Men’s Mental Heath: A Silent Crisis

At WeAreWema, health and wellbeing are at the core of what we do, and we know that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to good health and wellbeing. However, by raising awareness, we can begin to break those stigmas that surround men’s health. We know that men are often overlooked when it comes to conversations discussing mental health so it’s time that we brush up facts and take urgent action to raise awareness and support in every way that we can.

Why things need to change…

• 1 in 3 men in the UK have experienced suicidal thoughts as a result of feeling stressed.

• Only 25% of men feel able to talk to friends and family at times when they are feeling stressed.

• In 2019, there were 5,691 suicides registered in the UK. Men accounted for 75% of them.

• In 2019, the male suicide rate was 16.9 deaths per 100,000- which was the highest rate since 2000.

Social Stigmas & Toxic Masculinity

These shocking statistics show that something must change- ASAP. There are a plethora of potential reasons and explanations for these clear gender disparities. Social stigmas and toxic masculinity make it the norm for men to mask their mental health challenges, feel pressure to ‘get over it’, and ‘man up’.

Misdiagnosis

Other stumbling blocks arise in diagnosis of mental health issues in men, namely the fact that men and women often present symptoms very differently. Men can often portray symptoms of mental health problems such as depression through anger or aggression as opposed to women who most often portray sadness. Additionally, men have been much more likely to report the physiological symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems or joint pain. This means that depression in men can often be misdiagnosed or even dismissed completely.

This all links back to the social stigmas which are all too real, even in 2020. Societal expectations of how men and women should express emotion are incredibly damaging and are a huge reason for the gender disparities in suicide today. We need to change the view that showing emotion is a sign of weakness, because in fact, it is a sign of strength.