Manning Up: Men, Masculinity, and Mental Health

Increasing awareness of, and taking deliberate, conscious steps to maintain and strengthen our mental health is one of the most important things we can do for our all-round wellbeing.

Here are some practical and proven tips to support our mental health that we can all follow in everyday life.

What is Mental Health? 

Mental wellbeing is the sense of feeling good about who you are and how you perceive yourself as a contributor to society. 

Mental health means being mentally healthy to think straight and to make sound decisions in your life. 

Suffering from anxiety, addiction, or depression is extremely common and does not mean you are mentally ill. However, it is wise to pay attention to those symptoms and seek to identify potential underlying causes. In this sense, to ‘man up’ means to take responsibility for what is happening and seek support and solutions, instead of ignoring it.

Society Needs Men

As men, good mental health is a necessity for being a leader and a relevant part of society. If you want to step up as a man, you must protect your mental health. But it’s important to understand that all of us experience ups and downs throughout our lives. 

If you’re in a bad situation right now there’s nothing weak or shameful about that. However, it’s the choices people make at these times that determine true leaders.

Will you suffer in silence, allowing the problem to worsen over time – thinking you can overcome it by working harder, drinking or taking drugs to take your minds off things, taking your problems out on friends, colleagues, or family members? 

Or will you confide in others, take the time to self-analyse and identify potential causes, and adopt some of these practical, everyday things that can safeguard your mental health?

1. Stay Active

Staying active is essential for good mental health. The mind and the body work hand-in-hand. Exercise and sport release neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers, in our brains that make us feel good. That runner’s high people experience after physical activity? That’s due to the release of endorphins, which ease pain and reduce stress. Being active also releases dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which improve mood and help a person get a better night of sleep. 

Memory and cognition will also likely improve. This also increases the chances of experiencing positive events in everyday life. It’s been proven that activity can play a role in preventing and treating mild and moderate depression and anxiety. Doing a little exercise can help – even if you are least inclined to do so when you are in a state of depression.

Staying active doesn’t just mean running and exercising. Activities that increase the heart rate – such as gardening, thorough cleaning or cycling to work – are also good. Even simple walking has been shown to improve mood.

2. Eat Well

There are many studies that recommend maintaining a balanced diet that is high in fruits and vegetables and low in processed foods. This is said to not only improve your health, but also your mental wellbeing. 

Your brain cells are depending on you to eat well so it can operate at its full capacity. Relying on alcohol or illicit substances more than a healthy diet and habits won’t make more of a man out of you. Eating healthy is helpful to maintain and regulate your mood, which subsequently impacts your mental health and your behaviour.

Eating healthy also means being aware of how much alcohol you are drinking. Many suicide attempts are associated with alcohol consumption. And, if you have any kind of addiction, it means that you might not be eating well, depriving yourself of vital nutrients. 

It is recommended that you consider a drug or alcohol rehab facility to address the psychological issues and remedy damages that may have resulted from substance abuse.

3. Get enough sleep

Sleep is crucial for maintaining strong mental health. Patients who have mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder are more likely to have trouble sleeping. Insomnia can intensify mental disorders, and the reverse applies as well. 

Many of us know that when we don’t get enough sleep, it makes us feel irritable, lethargic and clumsy. Many addicts can stay awake for long periods of time, sometimes due to substance use, and sometimes due to underlying disorders. Neither is a healthy prospect. Either way, their mental health suffers. A better approach is to:

• Lay-off or cut back on sleep disruptors like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine
• Get regular exercise
• Practice meditation or get therapy to learn techniques for better relaxation
• Practice ‘sleep hygiene’, which includes a regular sleep schedule and keeping the bedroom free of distractions

4. Mindfulness

You may have heard enough about mindfulness to know that it is important to how you go about your daily life. 

At its core, Mindfulness is deliberate attention to what is going on around you, right now in the present moment – as opposed to getting carried away with thoughts that often have us ruminating about events that have happened in the past, or worrying about things that might happen in the future.

It also means increasing awareness of our own emotions, mental and physical state, so we are well equipped to take swift action when we notice something isn’t right.

Think of mindfulness as a highly present state of mind that allows you to take control of your life and make intentional decisions, which should positively affect your life. 

If you are in an addictive state, it is not easy to stay mindful. You might need a little professional help to get you over the initial hump. And if you’re not in a good state of mind, you could also relapse. Professional support, or treatment to get your mind right may be a wise idea.

Author Bio: Patrick Bailey is a professional writer mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world and enjoys writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them.