MEN AND MENTAL HEALTH

Do men need the support of a mental health professional? Aren’tmen strong?

BeforeI address the above questions, I would like to put forth some more questions :

We are aware of remarks/ comments/ sharing such as these:

“ My husband is a demon when he is angry”

“My son, an excellent boy is sadly taking to alcohol very frequently that it worries me.”

“My boy friendcommitted suicide and I don’t know what bothered him.”

“ My son in law beats up my daughter for no reason every evening.”

“My marriage broke because my husband was completely againstany sexual relationship with me and never spoke about it.”

Yes! All the while, we are aware of women experiencing stress because of various reasons attributed to the man in their lives. The man could be their husband, son, friend, brother or even father. We , as a society , to a great extent are empathetic towards women and are open to providing them the necessary interventions – legal/ medical/ therapeutic / social . But can we, for a moment shift our focus from the sufferer to the person/s causing the suffering? Can we attempt to at least understand the “ why” behind his/ their action ? Can we appreciate that these men / boys are most probably not in a very good state of mental health and require specific appropriate interventions to alter, improve , enhance their mental health status.?

Many acts of men, that cause distress to their families such as addiction, aggression, sexual dysfunction, marital disharmony , may be due to untreated mental health conditions. When I discuss about mental health “ condition”, I am not referring to mental illness. A poor mental health condition simply means insufficiently nurtured mental health leading to poor mental health status , that reflects as poor interpersonal relations, downfall in career growth and many other “ problems” that a common man does not relate to as being caused by poor mental health.

It is time, we began to approach problems more holistically and provide the appropriate intervention to the needy person at the right time.

Mental health is generally neglected in India . The need for mental health interventions for men is perceived as a bad joke. Men are considered to be strong and capable of handling life’s stresses. This social pressure on men prevent them from seeking help. Our cultural stereo type prevents them from experiencing normal emotions such as grief , sadness , while we, as a society have approved of their aggression as an expression of anger. In the process, men have been trained to express anger in an unhealthy manner and also not express other negative emotions such as grief . All this leads to an unhealthy lifestyle and has repercussions ontheir interpersonal relationships. Active sensitisation will help the society to become aware of men and their mental health needs. A more receptive approach , will encourage men to open up and seek help for themselves.

While most of the ailments mentioned in the article will require only some specific number counselling / cognitive behaviour therapy sessions, few of them may require the intervention of a psychiatrist too.

The intervention sessions would be planned based on the goals decided and the sessions will be focused in achieving these goals. Hence it is important to note that counselling and therapy sessions conclude once all the goals are achieved.

As a concluding note some simple tips –

If at all you come across a family that shares their woes with regard to the man in the family, spend some time to explore the possibility of neglected mental health. This is possible, if you are able to objectively study the acts/ behaviour of the said person. Do not hesitate to suggest mental health intervention as a solution to the problems created by him.Helpthe family to understand that better mental health ensures happier families. On a regular basis, actively psycho educate the men about importance of mental health and ways and means to maintain it.

Consistent efforts will surely bring us to a day when we have lesser social problems due to better mental health status of men.