More Men Are Dying In Homes Than On Battlefield - Why Men's Mental Health Is Not Getting Attention?

In the US, men have a higher mortality rate than women in 13 of the 15 leading causes of death, with the two most common causes as heart disease and cancer. For many, the reason is men taking their own lives. Richard V Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men writes that the risk of dying from suicide is 4 times higher for boys and men than girls and women.

The data, observed from the year 2010, a 40% hike in the suicide rate for men younger than 30, which is now higher than for middle-aged men. Each year writes Reeves, around 40,000 men die by suicide. This is equivalent to the number of women who die from breast cancer. He also points out that more men in America are "dying in our house and hospitals" than in the battlefield.

The life expectancy gap between men and women also widened from less than 5 years in 2010 to nearly 6 years in 2022. This is credited to the increased "deaths of despair", which includes drug poisoning and suicide and a higher male rate from COVID-19.

The National Institute of Mental Health says that while the prevalence of several mental disorders is lower in men than in women, other disorders are diagnosed at comparable rates for men and women or at higher rates for men, for instance, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also states that men are more likely to die by suicide than women.

Researchers are also looking into the matter of why certain symptoms are more common in men than women in the course of mental health illness. The National Institute of Mental Health also mentions that men are less likely to have received mental health treatment than women.

The Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) states that the reason why men find it difficult to get diagnosed or even mention the issues is because they face the pressure to "man up" or "tough it out". ADAA mentions, "The stigma of men speaking out is that it is seen as a form of weakness or not 'manly'."

As per Mental Health America (MHA), 1 in 10 men experience depression or anxiety, but less than half receive the treatment. Statistically speaking, men account for about 10% of patients with mental health disorders associated with eating like bulimia, or anorexia. However, they are less likely to seek professional help. MHA also states that over 6 million men suffer from depression per year, however, it gets underdiagnosed. More than 3 million men in the US have panic disorder, agoraphobia or any other phobia. At large, 2.3 million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder, and the age of onset for men is between 16 to 25 years old. In the US, the leading cause of disability is schizophrenia, and among the 3.5 million people who are diagnosed, 90% of them, diagnosed by 30 are men.

Brain inactivity can also cause such mental health disorders. Neha Sinha, a dementia specialist and CEO and Co-founder of Epoch Elder Care says, "Men especially face this issue, after they retire, they feel like they are at the loss of authority, and they start to lose control. It is thus important to keep doing things and learning a new skill to keep your brain active. While for women, since they continue taking care of the house, their brain stays active."

As per the National Institute of Mental Health, the common symptoms of mental disorder are:

Reeves points out that in 2020, as per the public health goals for 2020, the US federal government included 42 goals for children, 29 for women and 18 for the LGBTQ+ community. Only 4 goals were for men. There is therefore a need to throw light on men's mental health and address the stigma.

Out of the 44 preventive health-care interventions, which exclude vaccination, which are covered under the Affordable Care Act, 20 apply to both sexes, and 23 apply to women, including 12 for pregnant women, and only 1 for men. It is the screening for an abdominal aortic aneurysm among men aged 65-75 who are smokers.

Therefore, there is a need to recognise men's mental health. Mental health issues and disorders can be treated, however, it starts with recognising them and talking about them.