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Wes Streeting, the UK shadow health secretary, claimed lives were being claimed by a “masculinity crisis”.To address this, he revealed Labour’s men’s health strategy Early this month. This includes expanding NHS health checks in “male-friendly spaces” such as playgrounds, pubs and workplaces. Above all, Labor wants to encourage boys and men to be more open about their mental health. Apparently, men are still too quiet and prideful to talk about or confront their mental health issues.
Get used to it more Opening up about your mental health – is it even possible? Britons today, and this includes men, are more willing than ever to reveal the details of our mental health issues . We are exposed to mental health awareness campaigns. charity work, technology platform and celebrity. Diagnoses of mental health conditions are skyrocketing, especially among young men.and Prescription of antidepressants This has increased by more than a third in the past six years.
But while policymakers, state agencies, philanthropic organizations, and many other organizations have stepped up their efforts to address men’s mental health, there has been little demonstrable impact. Men appear to be suffering from more severe mental illness than ever before.Especially men continue to Three-quarters of This trend has been consistent since the 1990s.suicide still single biggest killer Streeting himself called it a “shocking” statistic.
While this may be a “shocking” statistic, there’s actually a simple explanation for it. Thanks to medical advances in recent decades, men are less likely to die from other illnesses by the time they reach their 50s. More importantly, it is unclear how Labour’s plans to get men to “open up” about their mental health will help fight male suicide.
Time and effort would be far better spent focusing on those most at risk of suicide. Policy makers could then begin to address the real material problems men face, rather than a vague “masculinity crisis.” If a Labor government did that, it would find that certain areas have the highest suicide rates among men. Rural and regional areas of England and Wales. You will also find that these are precisely the places hit hardest by deindustrialization, declining living standards and family breakdown. In other words, Labor would be better off focusing on the socio-economic stagnation that underlies suicide rates and mental ill-health.
Unfortunately, instead of focusing on rebuilding an economy that not only gives people a sense of purpose and meaning in life, but also decent-paying jobs, politicians are using cheap PR to encourage men to “open up.” would prefer to run a oriented campaign.
These awareness campaigns not only avoid the real problems behind some people’s mental suffering; They also pathologize normal emotions, prompting perfectly healthy people to start thinking of themselves as depressed and even potentially suicidal. The therapeutic culture promoted by the Labor Party is already doing far more harm than good.
Men deserve better than just another lame campaign about the need to “break the stigma” around mental health. It would be much better to discuss the serious causes that drive some men to despondency and pessimism.
bradley strotten Freelance writer based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Brad Strotten.
