Yes, believe it or not, men deal with mental health struggles too. Although it does get lost in the mud of life many times, we do actually deal with and struggle with mental health. Recently I had a true mental breakdown about college and it released a lot of feelings and thoughts that have been bothering me for a while. It also made me realize that I was battling a never-ending monster. In today's aspect of society, it seems as if only women openly talk about their mental health struggles, or take mental health days off from work and school for themselves. Just a few weeks ago I remember actually emailing a few professors about my attendance in class for that day, simply saying I won't be in attendance because I need a mental health day. The response I got was awesome, and all of my professors said, Ok! We understand that your mental health is important, just read the syllabus and let me know if you need anything.
Now a little background... High School for me, for the most part, was pretty simple and I didn't really have too many major life events happening to cause anything major. But the ones that did happen, I still bear with me even halfway through college. I was a freshman in high school when my Grandfather passed away and I remember how depressed I was, I felt as if every day it would just rain and the sun would never shine again. It took me several weeks even after the funeral to get back to normal, and sometimes I still have days where I just sit and realize how much I miss my grandfather.
Being a firefighter, you see some things that are really bad, I won't go into details but they stick with you for a while. When I was back home in high school and was a firefighter, I remember going to see a psychologist every week to talk about how to manage PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at a young age because of some of the things I was involved with. There are still some nights I still see them in my dreams.
Yes, men deal with mental health issues. But the question is why don't we openly talk about it more often to others, or even being honest with ourselves about what we deal with. Why do we feel the need to keep everything bottled up? why do men play everything off when for some deep down they are struggling. The real answer: society. Society has given men in this day in age a sense of needing to remain as strong and tough as possible to show no signs of weakness. There is a double standard for men and women in society with mental health, as society wants women to be more open with their issues, that way people can help them and they can receive the support they need. But when a man needs to talk to his bros about something that is on his mind, sometimes it's a situation where it is like: "Just grow a pair man, you'll get over it soon." and that is the end of the discussion.
It is time that men became honest with themselves and honest with others. It is okay to be struggling with something going on inside of your head. It's okay to feel depressed, whatever feelings you have going on inside of your head, let them be taken care of. Don't just let them sit and stir and create more conflict within yourself. When I started coming to terms with my mental health and started accepting who I was and the things that I deal with, I realized how much happier I was, and even though yes I did have a mental breakdown a few weeks ago that really made me think. I feel better from it. Sometimes Men and Women just need a reality check to understand that mental health is an important topic.
As a society we need to realize that the old school notion of just keeping everything bottled up and not getting your frustrations out is the best option, is wrong. We need to create a culture that allows men and women too to openly talk about what is bothering them without making them feel alienated. The future of our society and generation lies in our hands, and we need to address what is commonly taking over and destroying great individuals and concepts.
