Men's Mental Health Month

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Men's Mental Health Month
Thursday, June 24, 2021 by Renee D. Warring

Men’s Mental Health Month

June is Men’s Mental Health Month. I will be focusing on Black men. They suffer from what is called “Tough Guy Syndrome (TGS).” Many refuse to talk to their friends about their struggles with mental illness. They want to appear to be strong and in control of themselves and their life circumstances, so they talk about superficial topics like sports, cars, and work. There are serious downsides to being a “tough guy”, and “manning up’ can lead to a man going down.

Many African American men believe that being a “real man” means providing for their family, achieving the respect of others, and attaining financial success. They embrace the TGS as a source of self-esteem and self-respect. In other words, they wear a mask to hide their deep wounds caused by not being able to come to terms with the facts that they do not have a quality education, have few socioeconomic opportunities, and frequently experience racial discrimination.

African American men who have depressive symptoms are frequently misdiagnosed. When they experience serious mental health challenges, they infrequently get the help they need.

The men tell each other to “man up” which communicates two unhealthy messages. First, it says that “I can’t help you, and no one else can either.” Second it communicates that one has to independently solve one’s problems. As the men “man up” they inevitably end up isolating themselves from their families, friends, society, professional help- and even themselves.

The only way that they can stop spiraling downward is to start telling the truth about how they really feel. African American culture needs to shift and stop frowning on admitting one’s need for professional help.

Another reason why African American men do not seek professional help is a general mistrust of the medical system as well as mental health system. The mistrust is also in the hearts the African American community in general. There had been pass abuses like the Tuskegee Experiment.

“The question now becomes where do we go from here? First, men need more programs focused explicitly on open, honest dialogue about stress, feelings and emotional well-being.” The Man-Up Down program is a research project and not a counseling intervention. In the program the men meet and talk about their feelings which makes them feel better. “Another next step is to conduct research which evaluates more rigorously whether these kinds of discussion groups can mitigate feelings of anxiety and depressive symptoms.” Second, men need help to reduce the stigma around help-seeking in the community by working with institutions like churches and barbershops. An example of this is Dr. Stephen Thomas’, PhD. Health Advocates In-Reach and Research (HAIR) program, which is building a national network of barbershops and salons that partner with universities and hospitals to address local mental health needs. “In addition, we need to encourage more African American men to become mental health providers.” Finally, we need to continue to train mental health providers to be attuned to the African American culture by becoming fluent in the different vocabularies of distress, the intergenerational impact of slavery, and present-day racial discrimination.

Signed: Renee D. Warring of Uniquely and Wonderfully Made Ministries

Resources:

https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/manning-can-often-bring-men-down

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