Mental Health Tips for Men

End the stigma!

If you’re a man, or you know a man, perhaps your brother, friend, son or uncle, who you know needs support, please encourage them to talk to someone they can trust.  Whether that be a friend, relative, work colleague or even a professional, speaking to someone in confidence can help relieve the load.  Talking really can be best therapy and seeking support will help enormously.  Men can often feel they’re not allowed to talk, for whatever reason, but they need to know it’s safe to talk about how they feel.  Let’s end the stigma that men don’t talk about feelings!  Yes, they do, and yes, sometimes, they need to.  It doesn’t matter who you are; we all have feelings!  This article can be for men or women, but I feel it’s important to let the guys in our lives know its OK to talk.  

Tomorrow is a new day…

When you’re going through hard times and your brain just won’t stop, you can get the feeling that it is never going to end.  It’s normal to feel this way.  Many of us, at times, deal with mindless, horrible, negative brain chatter at varying times, but when it becomes extreme, with potentially harmful thoughts, it can be horrific.  Take each day as it comes, tomorrow is a brand new day with new opportunities.    Seeking help to work through the root cause of that negative mind chatter could help quieten it down, or eventually, shut it up completely!  With help, you can work to train your brain to deal with unwanted mind chatter, and you can eventually see, and feel, the results. 

Re-charge and re-energise…

For those who are feeling the pressure, it might help to just take a step back for a moment and reflect.  Take a few moments to reflect on the small things in life that make you feel good.  Play a piece of music that uplifts you and do something that can instantaneously give you a boost and help re-charge your batteries before they go flat.  Take a walk, take a bath (men can enjoy a good soak too!), read an inspirational book, meditate, get a massage, have a nap, treat yourself to something nice, cancel that meeting or connect with nature.  It’s ok to take time for you to self-care! 

We’re all still kids in there…

We really are just children inside.  We have an innate need to be loved, fed, nurtured and kept from harm.  That innocence is inside us all, no matter who you are.  Then, life happens and moulds and shapes us so we fit into our surroundings.  We are a product of our childhood and those we spent time with growing up.   However, even without the interference of those we surround ourselves with and those who we grew up watching, we would still feel the need for love, food, to be nurtured and to be kept safe.  Have a think about this; what would you say if your younger self was standing in front of you right now?  What advice or words of wisdom would you give?  I would bet you’d be kinder to them than you are to yourself.  Think about that for a moment.  You can easily connect with your inner child by imagining yourself at the age of ten, think about what that child needs, and think about what you’d say.  This is a very powerful exercise that can help you be kinder to yourself.