It’s not easy to admit, but in the past, I've struggled with my mental health. Depression - the black dog, they call it. I’ve walked that dog many times.
Yes, depression has hung over my life regularly since my late teens, and impacted my life significantly in a negative way. I want to tell you a little about my struggles during this blog, and offer some quick advice and guidance to where you can find support.
There are times when it’s almost boiled over to something even worse. Not something I want to discuss when I’ve never had that conversation with my nearest and dearest. Although, if you’re really interested, maybe I’ll bear all in a later blog.
I know I’ve not had a particularly challenging life, comparatively. I’ve had it easier than others, for sure. So why would I be depressed? To be honest, I don’t know.
Sure, I’ve dealt with some hardships, but haven’t we all? Stressful jobs, family troubles, bad breakups. We can all relate. In my late teens/early 20s, particularly, I went through a very difficult period, where it felt like I had no direction. Never knew what I wanted to do with my life, felt like I could never live up to my potential. Didn’t feel like I had the support of those around me, and felt I had no one to turn to.
I’ll spare you the details of what happened. But why am I telling you all this? Because men don’t talk about this stuff enough, and I’m aware that’s the problem. I’m 40 now, and men like me don’t open up as much as we should. It’s beyond time we started talking about men’s mental health. Thankfully, there are lots of support services available nowadays for men to contact, even if they don’t have the same support network that got me through my toughest moments.
According to research from credible sources like Mind, and Priory Group, 77% of men have suffered with common mental health symptoms such as stress, anxiety or depression. And 40% of men have never spoken about their mental health to anyone. The main causes seem to be work, finances and their health. There’s a negative stigma to it – we’re simply too embarrassed. But we shouldn’t be. Yes, it’s tough admitting we have a problem, but we can’t resolve it till we admit it, and we do want to resolve it.
I’ve put together a list to try and offer some real practical advice to offer some men’s mental health support. Even if these seem a little cliché, trust me, these really do help.
Where can you find help, then? So, there’s your family and friends. In all likelihood, they will want to help. If you don’t have that network, then there are alternatives. Your GP is a good place to start. They’ll have a conversation with you, and perhaps ask you to reach out to institutions like:
Here at iAM Learning, the company I work for also has a bunch of Mental Health Awareness courses. We’ve got stuff on promoting mental health, depression, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, relaxation, crisis prevention, suicidal feelings and much more. They are well-researched and have helped me out massively during dark times.
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