Men are very vocal about a lot of different topics such as sports, cars, women, and money. But when it comes to actual feelings many of them clam up and won’t budge. It is becoming more and more apparent that men need to be able to talk about their feelings and the issues that they are facing, especially if they are mental health issues. If they keep everything bottled up inside it could lead to tragedy.
A new study in the Journal of Men’s Health shows that men are emotionally affected far more than we realize by divorce. After a divorce they tend to do reckless things such as drink and abuse drugs or distance themselves from friends and family which cuts off any support they could have had.
Author Josh Rivedal speaks about how he lost his father to suicide and his father had lost his father to suicide as well. Both had mental health issues but were so worried about the stigma against men seeking help for their feelings and mental well-being that neither got the outlet that they needed. Rivedal himself said that he was at a point in his life at one time where he was standing out on a 4th story ledge because things were going horribly for him. But then he took a step back and realized that killing himself was not the answer. Instead he reached out to his mother.
From there Rivedal was able to open up to friends and family and get the support that he needed to get well again. He recommends that every guy who is feeling lost, hurt, or confused do the same. It is nice to know that you have someone in your corner, someone you can vent to when times get hard so that it doesn’t all well up into one major problem. He stresses that asking for help is not a weakness and does not make someone less of a man. It makes you stronger because you know that you need the help and you are willing to fight.
