How to Find the Best Men’s Support Group for Self-Improvement

According to data collected in 2018 by the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, the numbers reveal that men died by suicide nearly four times as much as women did. The rate of suicide was seen to be highest in middle-aged, white men.

While being shocking in themselves, these numbers also turn the popular stereotype of men being the stronger sex on its head. One of the other most commonly heard pieces of folk wisdom is that women talk it all out, while men tend to bottle it up and finally explode.

Men tend to mask the fact that they have an emotional, soft, and vulnerable side. This is a burden that they are conditioned to bear from childhood. “Boys don’t cry!” “Don’t be a sissy!” “Be a Man!” “Take it on the Chin!” are some of the stock phrases that parents of a previous era rolled out whenever a son displayed hurt feelings.

Aggressive displays of anger, however, were not frowned upon. In many cases, this led to a projection of anger-related behaviors when the underlying cause was pain or grief.

Boys Should Be Boys (Or Men)

Hyper-masculinity and macho-ness are concepts that may prevent men from getting the psychological help they need when they experience deep pain, fear, sorrow, rejection, depression, etc. In most cultures, displaying any of the softer emotions is considered a sign of weakness.

Many women themselves subscribe to these views, and they may consider a man who displays these emotions to be “effeminate” or “not tough enough,” possibly incapable/not strong in facing his responsibilities, or in taking care of his wife and children, etc.

In prehistoric/ancient times, when gender roles were demarcated, men went out hunting in small, close-knit groups. They could safely talk about their concerns or other “man issues.”

Since it was a smaller group, they felt comfortable and secure. When they returned, it was to a larger group that also consisted of elders who gave guidance on many aspects of life. Today, family size and composition have changed beyond recognition.

Over the last few centuries, societal conditioning has determined how/where/when/what feelings men are allowed to express. As a result, though men are essentially no different from women in experiencing emotions, expressing them is dictated by social norms. The social isolation of men has resulted in deep-rooted psychological trauma.

The recent rise of men’s support groups across the globe offers light at the … Read the rest

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