Men’s mental health is a complex topic! And you know what? It’s one we don’t frequently talk about. However, silence on the subject shoves under the rug one beast of a problem.
To paint a portrait, here are a few eye-opening statistics.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, males represent 79% of completed suicides in the United States.
A poll taken by Today after Anthony Bourdain’s suicide showed 49% of men were more depressed than they led other people to believe.
And regarding treatment? A study by Gateway Counseling shows a small fraction of men utilize mental health supports, with only 5% of those who struggle leaning on outpatient services and 9% making use of recommended prescription medications.
So, what’s going on here? What factors lead to the shocking stats above? We chatted with Missoula LAC Mitch Klatt to try and figure that out.
Truthfully, there’s no shortage of stigma men face when it comes to discussing their mental health. And Mitch spent some time sharing the potential consequences of that with us.
Outside of the clip above, he reported, “When men have a stigma, and they don’t want to talk about things—make themselves vulnerable—the way they often deal with it is to internalize it in some way.”
And all that internalizing? It’s not healthy! It can result in anger, strained relationships, emotional turmoil, and even poor outcomes such as suicide, as illustrated in the data above.
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