Surveys show that men are more comfortable talking about their physical health than their mental health, and they are less likely to use mental health services than women. Here are three main obstacles that prevent men from speaking out about the problems that are going on in their spiritual lives.

The feeling of missing someone to listen and share

We often think that sharing regardless of gender, regardless of gender, will easily find empathy and listening. However, recent scientific studies have shown a different reality: Men tend to be ignored when they talk about their mental health. post-divorce mental and psychological disorders, uncomfortable feeling when being looked down on by his wife, pressure when carrying the responsibility of the family breadwinner… When talking about these issues, men often suffer from a “ghost” psychology” with the question: Am I being a talkative, petty person and overdoing things?

Unlike women, men are often thought to be more quiet and should focus on finding solutions instead of talking too much about the problem. Therefore, it is not easy for them to open up and tell their loved ones about their psychological problems and mental problems. The stereotypes about “gender” also partly make them shy away from sharing their mental health problems.

Fear of affecting work

With the concept of “Men build houses, women build homes”, men are often under a lot of pressure around being the breadwinner of the family, especially having to shoulder financial burdens. That invisible pressure makes them work hard because of the desire to build a career early. So when it comes to giving excuses such as bad morale, men feel quite shy.

Some studies have shown that from the perspective of businesses, many companies equate mental illness with faking illness or simply laziness. Some also think that men suffering from mental illness is a worrisome thing, especially in occupations where men are the majority, such as police – army, transportation, construction, oil and gas, etc. .

In today’s society, men’s fears are justified. But not everyone understands this, even for themselves – who face mental health problems but can’t share it with anyone. As a result, they will often weigh the benefits and costs of talking about their condition. For some people, they feel the cost of speaking up about large personal issues, fearing that they will be judged for their psychological problems or poor mental health. determined.

The influence of toxic masculinity thoughts

Most especially, under the pressure of traditional norms of masculinity and toxic masculinity (extreme standards of masculinity), men will often withdraw into their shells and silently suffer problems. psychological problems they are facing. Standards are set such as: men must not cry, men must be strong, men must obviously be responsible for shouldering the family, men must be the breadwinners of the economy. Men have to close themselves every time they want to relieve the psychological problems they face, for fear that they lack masculinity, weakness, and lack of bravery.

Regardless of gender, expressing emotions is essential!

One of the difficulties that men often face is understanding and naming their feelings, especially in sharing with those around them what they are thinking. Sometimes, something as simple as “named” the negative emotions they are experiencing and frankly expressing the problem in a timely manner will help the emotional “balloon” of men not be inflated too much. level.

In the long run, if mental health cannot be expressed in words, it is physical health that bears all the consequences. Because the law of energy metabolism shows that energy is only converted from one form to another, repressing emotions deep inside can lead to long-term health consequences such as stomach pain, headache, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat…

Not only that, if you have to suppress your cold for a long time, not only will you suffer physical damage, but you will also develop psychological syndromes such as depression. From there, men will run out of joy, motivation and energy in life.

Recognize that mental health is just as important as physical health, not just because we can’t see or touch it, but deny the existence of mental problems. Taking the time to check and evaluate mental health on a regular basis will help men promptly recognize their own problems, as well as seek timely support from experts, doctors, people. relatives and friends. Although I know that it can be difficult to open up and share about the problems you face, but it is better than keeping the problems to yourself.