June is Men’s Health Month

June is a month of transitions – spring becomes summer, school concludes for the year, and daylight stretches into the late evening. Some transitions are welcomed, and others can bring on a great deal of uncertainty. The stress of uncertainty can weigh especially heavily on people who have difficulty identifying their emotions. They may not see the root of this stress and react in ways that do not address the source.

Why It Matters

June is also the month that the nation focuses on men’s health, which includes mental health.  In my practice, I’ve noticed men are often raised to not pay attention to their inner world. We are not taught to identify our feelings or how to healthily express emotions. This feeds into the idea that mental health is separate from physical health, and perhaps not as important. However, the two are not only linked, they are one and the same. This is why when we look at men’s health issues in June, it is critical to look at mental health issues.

Men are less likely to receive mental health treatment, compared to women even though men and women can be diagnosed with the same mental disorders and conditions. According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, “1 in 10 men experience depression or anxiety but less than half will receive treatment and more than 4 times as many men as women die by suicide every year.” This is a very real, widespread problem. Men’s mental health does not just impact men, as we all have men in our lives, whether they are partners, neighbors, family, or colleagues whose behaviors affect us all.

How This Impacts The Way Men See Their Own Inner World

One theory behind why men are not in touch with their feelings is a concept called “normative male alexithymia,” a term coined by Ronald F. Levant, EdD, of Nova Southeastern University. Alexithymia, which is also known as “emotional blindness,” is a condition where the person has difficulty in recognizing their emotions, which leads to challenges in expressing and responding to them. The “normative” part of Dr. Levant’s theory means that this phenomenon is not as much a diagnosable mental health disorder, as it is a feature baked into the way that boys are raised. In a culture where boys are raised to be stoic and competitive, there leaves little room for empathy and compassion.

Why Aren’t Men Expressing Their Emotions?

Although great strides have been made in recent years around the perception of mental health, there is still a stigma attached to those who seek help. According to the American Journal of Men’s Health, this stigma is even greater for men. This is not to say that men who report mental health issues should take priority over people of other genders, but there are real and perceived barriers to men seeking help, or even expressing their issues clearly. This leads to isolation and further stuffing down of feelings, which can create problems for everyone.

Therapy is an effective intervention for men’s mental health issues. However, the first step can simply be checking in with the people in your life. They may not even be experiencing any particular stress, but hearing a familiar voice can help them know that they are not alone. Create a space where people are comfortable sharing their feelings, regardless of their gender, and make clear that struggling is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of being human. We all experience the ups and downs of life and having someone listen can make a huge difference.