The end of June marks the final week of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, a period dedicated to raising support and awareness of the mental health struggles that men across the United States often face.
The need for mental awareness continues to grow in Georgia as more men fall victim to anxiety, depression and suicide.
According to 2021 data from the National Institute of Mental Illness, while men are less likely to be diagnosed with depression or mental illness, they are four times more likely to commit suicide at the national level.
According to statistics released by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, 78% of people who committed suicide in the state in 2018 were men.
Eric Rogers is the founder of Just For Men Behavioral Health, an Atlanta-based mental health center that aims to make therapy more accessible and comfortable for men.
Rogers advises men in their 20s through to their early 70s to get some basic training to teach them how to communicate their feelings and the challenges they are facing.
“When men seek help and talk about these issues, first they face stigma and people [by] “It kind of calls their masculinity into question. And secondly, the people they’re talking to are men who don’t have the skills or the understanding to communicate and actually address the issues,” he said.
“Men really don’t like to see that. [their issues] It’s common outside of yourself.”
Defining “masculinity”
In a culture where the nature of social and gender norms is constantly changing, Hodges said, many men struggle to understand what makes up their identity.
“[Whether it be] “Their bedroom identity, their identity as breadwinners … they’re struggling to fit into this idealized idea of who they should be,” he said.
As a mental health therapist with CHRIS180, a nonprofit that helps Georgia residents overcome mental and emotional trauma, Taylor Anderson works with young men ages 7 to 18, tailoring treatment methods specifically to each patient’s situation.
The 34-year-old counsellor prides himself on building genuine relationships with young people, where they feel safe to express their views and “it’s okay to be in uncomfortable situations”.
Anderson finds that the pressures of social media and technology often make it harder for young men to express themselves in a way that is relative to societal expectations.
“[They tell me] “The culture says I have to be tough, not show emotion, and fit a stereotype,” Anderson said.
“A big thing I do in my work is figure out what’s important to you,” he said. “What are your values? What do you want to achieve, personally, as an individual? Not just because your mom or dad or your friends or your coaches really want you to.”
These conflicts can be exacerbated by factors such as race and sexual orientation.
Anderson said some of the young black men he has worked with have trouble staying calm and expressing joy or emotion.
Rogers said men who identify as part of the LGBTQ community can sometimes struggle with where they fit into modern social structures, and research shows the group is often overlooked.
“This group suffers deeply from mental health issues as men because the nature of the discussions means they can’t necessarily talk about them with their everyday male friends or the men around them,” he said.
In the age of social media, children and young people are exposed to a vast array of ideas, images and people.
But despite being able to connect socially with a larger audience than ever before, Anderson believes technological changes have only made it more difficult for boys to form interpersonal connections.
“On paper [they] “Young people are thought to be more connected because they’re surrounded by a lot of people socially, but that’s not the case,” he says. “I think they feel lonelier because social media doesn’t give them the normal socialization that they crave.”
Rogers said that in his six years working as a mental health professional, he has seen fewer men in their 30s and 40s looking to commit to long-term relationships than previous generations.
“A lot of men feel insecure about marriage, insecure about committing themselves to a relationship, insecure about addressing issues, because they think, ‘I’m not ready. I don’t meet the standards of a man to be the breadwinner and make money,'” he said.
Rogers noted that as men age, addictive habits can become more prevalent and destructive, with stress-related factors such as family, work and income playing key roles.
“Many men have not learned coping skills, so a lot of their behaviors are escape behaviors or safety behaviors, behaviors to escape emotions that they don’t know how to talk about or feel uncomfortable talking about,” he said.
“A different approach‘
While more boys and men are accessing specialist mental health services in recent years, both Anderson and Rogers point out that there is still significant stigma attached to masculinity and mental health treatment.
Anderson points out that while it’s easy to dismiss personal hardship as temporary, it can have long-term effects and create further difficulties.
“If you want something a little different from what you have now or what you’ve had before, maybe it’s time to take a different approach,” he said.
Through his clients, he says he has seen time and again that men find relief and emotional breakthroughs by talking to someone who can empathize with what they’re going through.
“Finding a therapist can sometimes be like finding a barber. You may have to try them out and see if that person, that person, is the right fit for you. Sometimes it’s not a good fit, but that doesn’t mean therapy doesn’t work,” Rogers said.
“It doesn’t mean you’re crazy, it doesn’t mean anything… We all need support.”
