Hello Warriors!
Unfortunately, I feel as though this post needs a disclaimer before we begin - you are about to read about men's mental health to acknowledge the secondary theme of June.
If you missed our pride post last week, you can find it here!
Tifa Strife here, and I am not a man. I recognize that my words are coming from a female and that there might be a disadvantage to properly conveying this topic to you. Please feel free to comment with your own experiences and feedback! That was disclaimer one.
Disclaimer two is that Mark and I are not here to argue about the validity of men's health compared to women's or anything along those lines. It's not about statistics or comparison. This is purely to bring awareness to the concept that men do experience mental health issues and that it looks drastically different than for women.
The word different does not inherently indicate better or worse in my post or words.
Okay, enough of that. Assholes will fling shit because that's what they do. The disclaimers above are reassurances to vulnerable readers that this post is safe and that I'm not going to attack anyone other than maybe society at large.
When I was a kid, I remember my dad would kiss us girls on the head, but not my brother. It was based on my father's own experience as a male. He didn't love Nate any less, and he didn't intend for it to convey something bad. He wasn't even aware that he was upsetting Nate. As a kid, my brother thought maybe he wasn't loved as much, and that's why he didn't get a kiss on his forehead.
Nate broke down about it one day. My dad has kissed him on the forehead since. Mental health seems to have a very similar pigeonhole for men—as though it doesn't happen or they aren't as vulnerable to it, etc. There are people trying to learn more and adapt their belief sets to be more supportive, as well as those actively insisting that men should be strong and unemotional, etc.
There's also a bunch of ignorant people in the middle, enforcing stereotypes without considering the potential damage, like my dad and brother.
Like the Pride post last week, I'm not here to argue or force people to change their minds. I'm pleading with you to consider -
1 - We all have implicit (accidental) biases that we are unaware of that affect our opinions.
2 - Knowledge is beneficial even if you walk out the other side of researching with the same opinion.
3 - When we look at society as others we care for and not as people for and against us, we have an opportunity to shape a better future for the following generations.
4 - We are learning more about mental health every day. This means that even the professionals are adapting to facts and accepted information that has since been proven false.
5- There is space for men's and women's health, even if they are different and correlate to different situations.
6 - You are most likely close to someone who needs help but is afraid to ask or talk about it.
I will leave you all with a picture Mark posted this week that fits this topic perfectly! Not only can you face the battle, we are here to help as we are able to! Love you all!
