Breaking the Stigma: Encouraging Men to Talk About Mental Health
In our last blog, we brought light to the current stigma against Men’s Mental Health, but now I will discuss simple but impactful ways we can support men and how men themselves can feel secure in seeking out mental health care.
Listen, don’t judge. There have been special moments in my life where my brother would open up to me about how he felt regarding various situations. If I had pushed him away in those moments or didn’t carefully refrain from trying to provide solutions to “take away” those tough emotions, he wouldn’t be as willing to talk to me about how he feels now. The same way we all want to be heard by someone we care about, we should listen to men when they open up and not judge them or try to suppress their right to express their emotions.
Normalize. Talk openly about mental health and normalize it as acceptable conversation with friends, family, and colleagues. If it ever comes up in daily conversation, embrace it!
Change perspectives. For common stereotypes that you hear about men, change your perspective! How? Instead of thinking that a man should “man up” and not seek mental health care, think about how seeking mental health care is a strength, a sign of bravery and not of weakness.
Share your story. If you have gone/are going through your own mental health struggles, encourage other men by sharing your own experiences seeking out care. By sharing your own story of strength, you tell men they are not alone in their struggles.
Provide resources. By providing resources, men can easily access options for mental health care. Thankfully, we have great therapists at Carnelia Mental Health to support male clients. Share our page with them!
In the end, the best thing is to make sure to only encourage but not force. Allow men to feel comfortable making their own choice to seek out mental health care. Seeking out mental health care for the first time may not be an easy task, understandably for anyone. For men, it can be strange to share emotions if you have been told not to by society for all your life, but you are brave and show strength when you seek out therapy. Similar to how we seek out help for other areas of our life, it only helps make our lives easier. What may look like a weakness is our strength.
-Undergraduate intern, Jade Umanzor
*Interested in Men’s Mental Health? Clinical therapists, Keith Munson and Knute Sands are currently accepting new clients!
