June is Men’s Health Awareness Month. While this month is about bringing attention to all facets of men’s health, this includes mental health. Although mental health is important for everyone, men are 4 times as likely to die by suicide than women1 and are often less likely to receive mental health support. Gender norms and other societal issues often contribute to men not getting the mental health support they need.
Let’s discuss men’s mental health and the challenges they face, as well as the help that is available, in today’s blog.
Overview of Men’s Mental Health
In a report by Mental Health America, it was found that over 6 million men in the United States have depression. They also experience bipolar disorder at a relatively equal rate to women, make up 10% percent of patients with anxiety or bulimia, and make up 35% of patients with binge eating disorder. The problem is that men are often less likely to be diagnosed or to reach out for help in the first place.
Most chilling are the suicide numbers referenced above. In fact, the highest suicide rates in the United States are in white men over the age of 85. Men also experience high rates of substance use disorders, with one in five men developing an alcohol dependency in their lifetimes.
Intersectionality in Men’s Mental Health
No one is only their gender, and each factor of your identity plays into how you navigate the world — and how you navigate mental health. It’s always important to consider intersectionality when speaking of men’s mental health. Age, race, cultural background, life experiences, and sexual orientation can all be important mental health factors.
For instance, LGBTQ+ men are typically more likely to be diagnosed with mental health disorders, due to stigma and discrimination. Gay males under the age of 25 have an increased risk of suicide attempts, and gay and bisexual men tend to have higher rates of substance abuse, as do military veterans.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Black men between 18-24.2 Due to a lack of culturally competent care, Black men tend to be overdiagnosed with mental illnesses like schizophrenia or psychosis and underdiagnosed for mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Instances of unarmed Black men being attacked or even killed by authorities or civilians because they were regarded as “dangerous” when in the midst of a mental health crisis can be a major deterrent to Black men being open and vulnerable about their mental health.
Culture can be a factor in the refusal to seek out mental health support or even a failure to recognize mental illness. When one comes from a culture that has a stigma against asking for help or a history of being treated poorly by the establishments who claim to support mental health, it can be more difficult to reach out.
Factors That Keep Men From Receiving Mental Health Support
In order to understand the mental health challenges that men face, it’s important to understand what keeps them from receiving mental health support. Some of these factors include:
Social Norms
Men are often pressured to “tough it out” and to not show their emotions to others. If vulnerability is seen as unmanly and often leads to being dismissed and mocked, it can be difficult to find a safe way to express your mental health struggles. The pushback against toxic masculinity in recent years has helped to encourage men to be more emotionally open and willing to ask for help. But when the men who want to be more emotionally vulnerable had few positive examples of masculine vulnerability in their lives, the path can still be a slow one.
Invalidation From Friends and Family
The problem is that even when men are brave enough to open up about what they’re going through, they may be dismissed by those close to them. They may be told that if a problem is “just in their head,” it isn’t a real concern, that they’re making too much of nothing. They may even be encouraged to indulge in alcohol dependency or substance use in order to avoid those uncomfortable emotions.
Downplaying Symptoms
With constant invalidation about mental health symptoms and few examples of men asking for mental health support, many men fall into the habit of downplaying their symptoms. They may put on the appearance that everything is okay and brush off genuine questions of concern or checking in from friends. By downplaying symptoms, their mental health often festers in silence until the issue becomes too big to ignore.
Supporting Men With Mental Health Treatment
The good news is there is help for men with mental health struggles. Rivia Mind offers treatment in the forms of therapy and medication management. These treatments can be done together, or you can choose one over the other. After a mental health evaluation, speak with one of our psychiatrists to determine the best next steps for you.
Therapy
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, on its most basic level involves sitting and talking to a therapist for an hour about the mental health struggles that are currently weighing on you, and then making a plan with the therapist to cope with those mental health struggles. However, there are many different modalities of therapy.
Therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) focus on reframing your thoughts and behaviors to better align with your ideal life. Interpersonal Therapy or Internal Family Systems therapy focus on your interactions with others. Trauma therapies such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) may involve reprocessing your traumatic memories to lower your distress.
Medication Management
While therapy is helpful for developing plans to improve your situation and coping strategies when you can’t do so, pharmacotherapy — treatment through prescription medication — is designed to reduce your symptoms on a daily basis. Medications alter the chemical imbalance in your brain that exacerbates mental health symptoms, such as a deficit in serotonin or dopamine.
You work with a psychiatrist who can prescribe you medications based on your mental health symptoms. You will typically start on a low dose, and it may take a couple weeks for the medication to take effect. After a month, you may check in with your psychiatrist again. Based on your experience with the medication, they may adjust your dosage or change medications completely. If you stay on course, you will typically meet with your psychiatrist to check in about your symptoms quarterly.
Don’t keep your mental health struggles inside. Rivia Mind is here to help with skilled and compassionate clinicians, offering a safe space for you to express your feelings and receive support. Contact us today to learn more or to find a provider.
Resources:
- Infographic: Mental Health For Men – Mental Health America
- Black Men and Mental Health: Practical Solutions – NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
