Depression has been there with us since the beginning of human evolution. Although, it has been suppressed throughout the early eras.
After many years, people finally started acknowledging words like depression, anxiety, mental health, etc. But mental health has often been looked over when in context with men. The society has altogether refrained from talking about male mental health for years and years. A common notion of “men don’t cry.” went around hampering any possibility of change in the mindsets. Depression and mental health are topics, not talked about under the male umbrella. Gender shouldn’t be allowed to be a barrier in someone’s survival.
Depression is a mental illness. It is a disease just like any other. It’s not something people should be ashamed of. It should be treated similarly as any other disease is treated- by seeking medical help. People need to know that “it’s okay to not be okay
Depression is just like any other human disease. It’s not a gender or age-biased disease. It’s a mental illness where people feel lonely, don’t find enjoyment in any activity and even lose their appetite too. You can’t look at anyone and can detect that he/she is suffering from depression. It’s something that a person has to feel within. It can happen to anyone. The most successful man can also suffer from depression.
Depression is different from emotions but it can cause if a person is not able to express himself. From a young age, boys are taught to be tough and emotionless. They are taught that “boys don’t cry.” But that is a wrong concept. Men do need to feel emotions. If they are feeling pain, they are allowed to feel the pain. If they are heartbroken, it’s okay to be sad. It is okay if they don’t want to take the family’s burden.
A father, brother, or even a husband has always been portrayed as someone who takes up the whole responsibility and doesn’t show a single emotion. In early movies, people used to believe “Mard ko Kabhi Dard Nahi Hota”. Although in today’s era this trend needs to be stopped. A man also needs to be praised, needs to be comforted, and taken care of. It’s not only a man’s job but a woman’s too. A man can also be moody.
Depression and anxiety are not only a problem for women but men too. Men should be allowed to feel pain, cry, feel moody, clueless, and lonely. Men getting help for their mental health needs to be normalized now. There has been an ongoing debate on Why do men get more heart diseases than women? Because men’s coping with stressful events may be less adaptive than women’s.
That’s another reason why men have more anger issues than women. Because they don’t feel comfortable about opening up to their emotions and often use anger to express that.
The need of the hour is an open environment. An atmosphere where any particular person doesn’t feel ashamed of his thoughts and emotions, a place were we can be vulnerable yet accepted.
