This week I attended a conference on Men’s mental health. One of the big themes of the conference how much LESS often men* ask for help. There are stigmas for men. They feel a need to be silent and stoic. Their pain needs to be invisible. They are told they need to “man up”, take their “dresses” off, and deal with it on their own.

One of the most specific issues men face differently than women is depression. While many women will use words like sad, down, and hurting to describe depression, men use other words to describe their depression. They use words like pissed, stressed, and angry.  Men are more likely to use substances to self medicate their depression, often masking the depression into a sense of numbness.

Research shows that men would rather be diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder than depression; while the opposite is true for women. It is difficult for men to seek help for depression and to feel supported. Women are much more likely to get treatment, reach out to friends, and connect with one another. Men tend to turn to substances, isolate themselves, and get angry.

The saddest part of this is that men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women. That means that for every 6 women who commit suicide there are 24 men. This statistic is true even before adulthood.

For today’s post I thought I would share two of my favorite videos about depression produced by the World Health Organization. “I had a black dog, his name was depression,” is a video about recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression. The second video “Living with a Black Dog” is a similar video for those supporting loved ones with depression. Here’s to hoping that we create a safer place for men to courageously ask for help. Share these videos with people you love!

 

*Men as referred to in this article refers to men, statistically speaking, as a social group.