https://www.instagram.com/mensmentalhealthawareness2023?igshid=MmVlMjlkMTBhMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
IT’S OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY
“Men’s mental health struggles often go unrecognized or undiagnosed, and due to widespread stigma and misunderstanding surrounding suicide, deaths by suicide may be incorrectly or mistakenly listed as ‘deaths by unintentional injuries'". (Stats on Suicide in Men: What You Need to Know | HeadsUpGuys, 2023)
Out of the unfortunate number of people who take their lives as an escape route (“Nearly 800,000 people die by suicide in the world each year, which is roughly one death every 40 seconds," Suicide Statistics and Facts, SAVE, 2023), a huge percentage are males (one male dies by suicide every 13.7 minutes in the U.S.). This means that there are 3.9 male deaths by suicide for every female death by suicide. Statistics like this demonstrate how urgent attention to the deteriorating state of the mental health of men is needed.
Men are taught to be strong in order to be "manly" or masculine. We are also raised as protectors, which creates an inclination to put other people's needs ahead of our own. As a man, I have come to understand how men's masculinity is sometimes questioned, and we are perceived as weak when we voice our emotions or complain about unfair circumstances. When a man experiences a traumatic event, he is often told to “be a man"—to move on and pretend nothing happened. Due to these circumstances as well as the widespread stigma associated with seeking therapy, men find it hard to speak up and suffer in silence instead, leading to a high rate of unhappiness in adult men. “Research evidence suggests that the prevalence of mental health conditions in Canada has increased, while a considerable percentage of people with a mental health issue do not seek professional mental health services." (McDonald et al., 2017)
“All being an activist really entails is having an idea of what needs to be changed and doing something about it." (Duncombe & Lambert, 2021)
After identifying the need to address men's mental health, I aimed to challenge the stigma around it and normalize conversations about emotions and seeking help. I feel that it is vital for people to understand that it's perfectly okay for men to express vulnerability and seek support, ultimately encouraging empathy, understanding, and destigmatization.
My project was publicized through social media campaigns and community outreach. I engaged my family and friends by focusing on the men among them and listening to their thoughts, stories, and personal experiences related to men's mental health struggles, fostering dialogue and participation. "A series of narratives where these participants spoke about how they believed freedom was afforded, or not, but also about the ways in which we embody those narratives," according to Soto, served as the inspiration for this. The feedback I received was mostly positive, with many expressing gratitude for initiating such an important conversation and providing an opportunity for expression, which most of them never thought they needed. I have since come to appreciate the advantages of voicing my concerns and speaking up in circumstances where I would have previously remained silent or beared. So I can definitely feel the effects of this intervention on a person's life. “A great deal of activism and political art is directed toward criticizing what we don’t like. Occasionally, it suggests the steps we might need to take to change things.” (Duncombe & Lambert, 102)
My intervention creates social impact through art. It demonstrates my commitment to using art as a means of addressing societal issues and fostering positive change. And by tackling the stigma around men's mental health, this project showcases my ability to engage an audience and spark meaningful dialogue through visual storytelling. Several pieces of art and artists, including the following, served as inspiration for my intervention:
JR: Inspired by his participatory art installations, I aimed to involve people actively, engaging them in conversations, in order to see things from their perspective.
Soto's Narrative Work: The idea of exploring personal narratives influenced my project's foundation, providing a space for individuals to express their experiences regarding societal expectations and mental health challenges.
The Man Therapy Campaign: This campaign uses humor and direct duialogue to break down the stigma surrounding men's mental health, using a fictional therapist named Dr. Rich Mahogany to engage men in discussions about mental health in a relatable and approachable way.
"A Mile in My Shoes" by Empathy Museum involves walking a mile in someone else's shoes—literally. Participants wear the shoes of someone else while listening to their personal story through an audio narrative.
The CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) Project: CALM is a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide in the UK. They use various artistic mediums, including photography, campaigns, and events, to challenge societal norms around masculinity and encourage open conversations about mental health among men.
Research that informed this project:
"Stats on Suicide in Men: What You Need to Know" HeadsUpGuys
"Suicide Statistics and Facts" (SAVE)
"Understanding Suicide and the Silent Epidemic"—Psychology Today article
"Research on Mental Health Conditions in Canada" (McDonald et al., 2017)
“CALM. (2023, December 9). Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). Retrieved December 11, 2023, from https://www.thecalmzone.net/ ”
Man Therapy | Men’s Mental Health Resources. (n.d.). https://mantherapy.org
A Mile in My Shoes and Empathy Museum. (2022, May 12). Empathy Museum. https://www.empathymuseum.com/a-mile-in-my-shoes/
Works cited
Stats on Suicide in Men: What You Need to Know | HeadsUpGuys. (2023, November 30). HeadsUpGuys. https://headsupguys.org/suicide-stats-men/#ref
Suicide Statistics and Facts (SAVE) (2023, February 16). SAVE. https://save.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
McDonald, B., Kulkarni, M., Andkhoie, M., Kendall, J., Gall, S., Chelladurai, S.,
Yaghoubi, M., McClean, S., Szafron, M., & Farag, M. (2017, July 14). Determinants of self-reported mental health and utilization of mental health services in Canada. International Journal of Mental Health, 46(4), 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207411.2017.1345045
Duncombe, S., & Lambert, S. (2021, November 2). The Art of Activism or Books. http://books.google.ie/books?id=J8VZzgEACAAJ&dq=Steve+Duncomb,+Steve+Lambert+-+The+Art+of+Activism_&hl=&cd=1&source=gbs_api
Soto, E. (2022, July 1). Performance, Pedagogy, and Philosophy: Hispanic Executive https://hispanicexecutive.com/shaun-leonardo/
Social media Outreach account
https://www.instagram.com/mensmentalhealthawareness2023?igshid=MmVlMjlkMTBhMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
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