June is Men’s Health Month
Despite the country’s growing acceptance of mental health treatment, men oftentimes remain reluctant to seek help because they may think choosing treatment is akin to admitting weakness.
“Men and boys are socialized to be tough, independent and emotionally controlled,” said licensed clinical social worker Max Holmes, a provider at McDonough District Hospital Behavioral Health and Mental Health. “Messages they receive are ‘don’t cry,’ ‘toughen up,’ ‘it doesn’t matter.’ While this teaches resilience, it is restrictive in the sense that it leads to the repression of emotion, which paves way for maladaptive coping.”
Coping mechanisms for mental health issues, Holmes said, include becoming angry toward others instead of showing sadness, using alcohol or drugs to numb emotional pain, taking risks, becoming aggressive and focusing on logic over feelings.
“It typically takes 11 or so years after the onset of symptoms for a male do something about it,” Holmes said. “That’s a lot of stuff to unpack when they come to see you. And it also means that their symptoms were given the opportunity to become more severe.”
