By Hashir Ahmed
They feel insecure, feel alone, feel lost the other day!
Yet stand alone, Hide the fears, Keep that forever smile through the day!
It’s been centuries that men’s mental health is taken for granted. The statistics notify us how men have been surviving the day, enduring all those negative energies within themselves, not uttering a word to this cruel societal system. No matter the delay of this journey for mental health awareness, we must necessitate appreciating men for the modest pains they abide by every day. In order to grasp the magnitude of the concern, it is vital to explore some shocking statistics surrounding men’s mental health.
- Out of 6,859 people that died from suicide in the UK, 5185 of them were men.
- 4 in 5 suicides are by men.
- 7 in 10 who died by suicide had no history of mental illness.
- Intimate relationships were a contributing factor in 62% of male suicides.
- For the first time, the suicide rate for men aged 20-24 increased significantly by 39.1%.
It is such a taboo in a society that men must stand firm no matter what the circumstances are, as “Get on with it” and “Oh come on, be a man”! It has become a compulsion for men to act usual and normal even if they want to cry their heart out. In most cultures, men are tainted with toxic masculinity and aggression. However, the ballgame can be different if the table turns to femininity. Women are the spotlight of social issues today and in the end, stereotyped to gender roles. Thus, men are abandoned when it comes to ‘masculine ‘gender fit.
Social media is, hence, a big perpetrator of this fleeting misinformation in regard to the mental health of men. Take an example of Instagram: A hot topic concerning males is a depiction of tall and muscular bodies with white teeth, leaving most of the segment immensely frustrated with their body image! A survey of Adult men illustrates that 28% of men felt concerned about their bodies and 11% have felt suicidal thoughts as a direct result of these feelings.
THE FINALE
Men’s mental health is not a negligible issue. Men around the globe are been suffering from mental health problems that are necessary to be resolved. There is an urgent need to apprehend the very idea of men asking for help. This narrative should be worked out as soon as the statistics go beyond worse. After all, we share the same planet!
