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RE: Bringing the Steemit community together to fight Suicide and Depression

in #depression7 years ago

Thanks for starting this discussion @nathankaye

I have struggled with depression myself and I know the stigma that comes with it. Now that I don't have an employer and work for myself, I feel a lot more comfortable talking about it.

There are certain phrases that make things worse for men and we should call people out on it when it's used

"Man up" - no, it's okay for men to have emotions
"Don't be a p****y" - apart from being sexist, it reinforces the idea that men should not cry or show any vulnerability. Expressing our emotions and showing our vulnerability helps us be closer to those around us.

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Men are forced to hide their feeling from the time they are small. If a young boy falls, the parents tell them to walk it off, but if a girl falls they usually run to them and tell them they will be ok and coddle them. It starts at such a young at that boys are supposed to suppress their feelings. I feel this could be one of the leading factors that men are at higher risk of suicide. Another thing I have read about why stats say men commit suicide more is because men do it in more violent ways then women, so it is less likely to survive an attempt.

Beautifully said, mate.
Expression of emotion is a vital first step in the healing process, yet it seems like such a big hurdle for our culture and for men to leap over, but of course, the healing process doesn't stop there.
Once the emotions have been felt and run there course, we need to shake those heavy feelings off and replace them with more positive and reconstructive feeling. Kind of like, letting the expression of emotions to others wash us clean of the pain, then recalibrating our perceptions and how we wish to move on from that dark place onto our soul-purpose here on Earth (and we all have vital roles to play in this world).