HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Nearly 4% of men in the United States suffered from a serious mental illness in 2019, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Many men have been taught that they are the strong, dominant gender and that showing weakness is not manly.
In many cases, some men refuse to get help or acknowledge that they even have a mental illness. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, men die from suicide 3.63 times as often as women.
James Desta, a licensed professional counselor, says he recognized the stigma surrounding men's mental health from a very young age.
"What I remember about middle school especially, was that sharing your feelings was something that deserved a lot of ridicule. Because it meant you weren't cool. It meant you weren't manly, said Desta. "For me, that really took a hit on my self-esteem."
"I think it's really cool because the newer generation, gen z, seems to not really care what people think about this. Like, if you go on TikTok, you can find all kinds of things and all kinds of people joking about their mental health deficits and things like that. It's a conversation. It's a community conversation in a way it hasn't been before."
If you are still unsure whether you need professional help or if you are one of the sixteen million that have a mental illness, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has resources online on its website.
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