Air of silence around men’s mental health

July 7, 2024 10 Views No Comment

Traditional masculine ideals coming in the way of help

Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 7

Depression and anxiety are one of the most common mental disorders among men in India, as per the National Mental Health Survey, 2015-16. It affects approximately 2.7 percent of adult male.

India is also estimated to account for approximately 24.5 percent of global suicide deaths. The data point to higher rate suicide deaths among men than women, with the male-to-female suicide ratio tipped at 2:1.
But there seems to be a general air of silence, especially when it comes to men’s mental health. “Why are we not speaking about it?” posed Dr Ayangla Longchar, Psychiatrist at the State Mental Health Institute, Kohima, at a workshop on Men’s Mental Health on July 7 at Tetso College, Chümoukedima. The workshop was jointly organised by the Lapiye Centre for Mental Well-being, Prodigal’s Home and the Department of Psychology, Tetso College as part of the Men’s Mental Health Month.

According to Dr Longchar, the traditional idea of masculinity has largely to contribute to the perceived silence. She broadly classified it into toxic masculinity, societal expectation and self-stigma.

“When we talk about toxic masculinity, we see that our society expects men to be tough, stoic and self-reliant,” she said, essentially implying bottling up emotions. “They cannot cry in front of other people, or else, they will be labeled as weak,” she added.

Secondly, she said that the traditional role of the male as ‘provider’ translate into societal expectations. “Men also have pressure to provide. They are expected to professionally excel so that they can serve the society and the family,” she said.

Thirdly, mistaken masculine ideals ingrained over generations turn the need to seek help into feelings of shame. According to Dr Longchar, the fear and stigma of being labeled ‘weak’ come in the way of seeking psychological help. “They don’t speak about it. They have a fear of being judged by their peers, their colleagues,” she said.

Further, she said that a general lack of awareness about mental health or how it presents itself serves as a contributory factor. In Nagaland’s context, she said that the lack of awareness has had people attributing mental health issues to supernatural entities.

She said, “They either go to prayer centers or else they say he or she has been demon possessed. That is what lack of awareness does.”

She said that all the factors combined leads to “internalising of emotions” and or resorting to negative coping mechanisms like substance abuse.

What can be done?
Dr Longchar said that breaking the stigma requires building a supportive family or social environment which allows the nurturing of emotional intelligence, self-awareness and building empathy.

She described emotional intelligence as being aware of and acknowledging “our own emotions, our feelings” and dealing with it. She said that developing emotional intelligence can help develop self-awareness and empathy and the courage to seek help.

She said, “Accepting that you have a problem, accepting that, even you can be depressed, even you can be stressed, is a sign of courage and strength.”

Social therapy
DIGP (CID), Dr KPA Ilyas was the guest of honour. He noted that the practice of psychology, as it “developed in the western world,” tend to look at psychological issues as individual problems. While it has shown positive results, he added that social psychology, which incorporates the aspects of family, the village or the extended society, can be leveraged in a society like Nagaland’s.

W Nginyeih Konyak, Chairperson of the Nagaland State Commission for Women delivered the keynote address.