Today, is International Men’s Day, which focuses on the campaign to reduce the male suicide rate, as well as the need to foster a better sense of physical and mental wellbeing among men and improve relations between the sexes. According to the Office of National Statistics in the UK men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) aims to combat this growing problem. They suggest that a contributing factor to this statistical imbalance could be men feeling less able than women to express emotion and admit to vulnerability. On their website it states: “We believe that there is a cultural barrier preventing men from seeking help as they are expected to be in control at all times, and failure to be seen as such equates to weakness and a loss of masculinity.” But who is it telling men they shouldn’t verbalise their emotions or succumb to doubts, anxieties and fears? The answer is, other men.
Content from our partners
