In 2020, men died by suicide 3.88x more than women. On average, there are 130 suicides per day. And here is the reason why?
There have been several reasons why men are being forced towards this even if unintentionally.
And they are: –
Families and their ignorance
Most men find themselves in fixes with their families. In any Indian household, families don’t consider men’s emotions. They fail to understand that a man can also suffer, or a man can have some emotional problems. Families have been seen to be working on a pre-conceived notion that men are built to be a brick wall with no emotions. And even if a man conjures up enough courage to face the family about his problems, he is more than often just shamed for the same.
Lack Of Laws
In India, there are a lot of laws that can’t be availed by men. There are several countries where laws relating to sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, abuse etc have been gender-neutralized unlike India . And therefore, a considerable number of male victims came out of the statistics. But in India, we can’t tell the exact numbers as there are no laws with respect to male victims.
Emotion Dismissing
We have seen parents telling boys to not cry. Parents teach their sons that they are not allowed to show emotion. As a result, when a man feels depressed, he doesn’t go for help. He just starts to ignore any discomfort in his life. No one likes to be called weak. They put on a mask hiding any traces of emotions, suppressing all.
Social Shame
Even if a man tries to open up about his feelings people start shaming him. Usually, it’s okay for a woman to share her feelings, but society doesn’t accept it if a man does the same. If a man cries openly, people just attack him with different names. Many just want men to have a poker face all the time. And if anyone tries to show any emotion, society makes them feel like they need to be emotionless. That’s the main reason for a man attempting suicide. They are not allowed to talk about emotions. Their depression is often just named a whim and frisked off.
No to Therapy
It is not hidden that therapy is still taboo in India or some areas of the world. But a man going to therapy is a lot bigger problem than that in the world. Even if many are okay with the therapy but a man going to the therapy is still unacceptable. Men can’t even tell that they need help because since the beginning they have been brainwashed into believing the help is for the weak. Men think that they need to be independent in every way and therefore they can’t take any help. People need to accept that a man can be vulnerable and it doesn’t make them weak.
Responsibilities
Man has so much of responsibilities. They have responsibilities to their families, their kids, and their parents. They are always loaded with responsibilities. They feel like if they are not able to fulfill these, they are a failure. They feel like a burden if they can’t bear the pressure of responsibilities. They feel like they always need to take care of one thing or another just to be validated
Judgemental Society
Society judge men in every way possible. It’s important to tell men that they can talk about their mental health. It’s important to let them know that they are not weak if they are talking about their emotions. They are not lesser of a man if they are being harassed by a woman and not able to deal with it. Crying for help is not a sign of weakness at all. A man needs to be free from judgment to reduce the number of suicides.
Stereotyping
As we have heard people saying pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Some similar male stereotypes are roaming around the world. Where many people still believe that men shouldn’t do household chores. They shouldn’t do make-up. Men need to be muscular and tough. And can’t be anything other than an engineer or a businessman. And when a man doesn’t fit in any of these stereotypes, he feels depressed. He feels like he doesn’t deserve to be in this world and attempts suicide.
The world needs to open its arms to the men of the society. Let them live, let them love and allow them to be who they are.
