There is an overwhelming stigma revolving mental health and mental illnesses that still persists despite of the progressiveness of today's society. The existence of these stigmas are apparently evident to many in our society, yet most are unwilling to act on it, to speak up, and many still grasp onto specks of misconceptions and false beliefs and ideologies that have been drilled into them because of the influence of the people around them, causing them to be blissfully oblivious. Mental illness is something we need to talk about, and seeking help is a practice that should be part and parcel of our societal norm.
Enter: ideologies surrounding mental illnesses vis-a-vis gender associations and stereotypes. Women tend to be portrayed as being emotionally and psychologically weaker than that of men, i.e. they possess a lesser ability to withstand stress, are more emotionally turbulent, and are more susceptible to emotional outbursts. Generally, emotional dependence has been a trait that is built around femininity. Yet around the world, men claim the majority of suicide rates in many countries, where they are three times more likely to die by suicide in Australia, 3.5 times more likely in the US and more than four times more likely in Russia and Argentina (Schumacher, 2022).
This belief is damaging not only to women in terms of the pejorative depiction, but are, at the same time, also harmful to men who are constricted in how they are allowed to feel, if allowed to at all, and the extent of which they can express emotions that they will inevitably and uncontrollably produce. This boils down to the dogma which our society still tends to be inclined towards: stoicism in men and emotional sensitivity in women dictate how one is expected to and how one is supposed to feel as if it is bound to their gender identity. The evidence in this area is clear and compelling: men’s emotional fluctuations and emotional capacity differ no more as compared to a woman (Weigard et al., 2021). However, around 40% of men are still unwilling to talk about their mental health issues (Priory, 2015), and women are 10% more likely to seek help (Abrams, 2014).
Ultimately, the mindsets that bearers of mental illnesses hold can be dangerous to their wellbeing in general: it is essential they understand that mental illnesses are disorders, and cannot be brushed away like how one is unable to will his/herself out of asthma, or diabetes. The key to exterminating baseless and untrue notions with regards to mental illnesses is for more light to be shed on this matter, and for us to talk about them.
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