As we go through life, we encounter highs and lows, moments of pure joy and times of deep sadness. However, it is how we handle these difficult emotions that defines us.
June is Men's Mental Health Month, and it's a good time to talk about how men can better handle negative emotions. Some coping mechanisms for men include working hard, exercising, learning a new skill, or watching football or any sports.
Others engage in self-destructive activities like smoking, drinking, partying, and having sex with multiple partners.
How can men better handle their mental health?
1) Have a community
Research has shown that people live longer and happier lives if they have a community. A unit of family and a group of friends are important. The love and support they offer is great for your mental health.
Ontario's Alliance for Healthier Communities states that membership in a caring and supportive community, whether it is a local neighbourhood, cultural or religious group, or retirement home, has a positive effect on an individual's overall well-being in both good and bad times.
2) Practise gratitude
Even in the toughest times, find small things to be grateful for; being grateful for things as simple as fair weather or a kind word from a stranger can improve your mood. Gratitude has been scientifically proven to lift feelings of depression.
"Gratitude may enhance psychological well-being", according to Psychologist, Robert A. Emmons, whose findings on gratitude sparked other research on the topic. Research has revealed that expressing gratitude, acknowledging our blessings, and appreciating others can work wonders for our emotional well-being, as well as enhance our interpersonal connections with family and friends, including our romantic partners.
Additionally, some studies—but not all—have suggested that being grateful can improve one's physical health. "Gratitude heals, energizes, and changes lives," stated Emmons.
3) Develop fortitude and resilience
Fortitude is courage in the face of pain and adversity. The truth is, life can get tough; you just have to be strong and never give up.
According to the New Yorker, Martin Seligman, a pioneer in the field of positive psychology and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, studied the phenomenon of resilience.
Seligman discovered that teaching people to shift from internal to external explanatory styles, like "I have no control over the bad events in my life," to specific to general explanatory styles like, "This is just one thing rather than a massive indication that something is wrong with my life", and from permanent to impermanent explanatory styles like, "I can change the situation" rather than assuming it's fixed, made people more psychologically successful and less prone to depression.
4) Physical activity
You don’t need a gym subscription to engage in physical activity—run, take a walk, join a sports team—just move. Physical activity, especially one that is outdoors, improves your mood.
Exercise boosts mental health by lowering anxiety, depression, and depressive symptoms, as well as by raising self-esteem and increasing cognitive abilities. Additionally, it has been discovered that exercise helps with symptoms including social isolation and low self-esteem.