In the same way that the sky is blue, talking about one’s own mental health, especially for boys and men, is a net negative.
It’s obvious once you see it.
You’ll come round.
It’s obvious once you see it.
You’ll come round.
A lot of men, and women too, have horribly self-destructive tendencies. For many men, their biggest enemy is themselves. And it's a vicious cycle, where every time they pick themselves up, they pick up the metaphorical shotgun and blow off their own foot. In order to fix these tendencies, we must first identify them. That's actually the hardest part. Most self-destructive people don't know they are self-destructive, which is why the problem is allowed to continue. In order to identify the tendencies, we require fierce introspection. Introspection is a combination of radical honesty and analysis.
Self-destruction breeds insecurity, jealousy, anger, violence, dissociation, and an inflated sense of self. Practically all the losers and bums you see around are really just self-destructive. They could do better, but they choose not to, because they don't think they deserve it. They view themselves as losers and bums, and so they are so.
How do people know if they're self-destructive? If they repeatedly have failed relationships. If they abuse substances or food. If they repeatedly run to the same behavior as a coping mechanism. The gym is a common one for men. If they chronically make poor decisions. If they push people away. And, if they're not able to talk about their feelings or be vulnerable.
These problems are not innate, they can be fixed. But it's 100% impossible to fix a problem you can't even identify. So, talk about it. Talking to someone trusted can aide your introspection process. Although, nobody can do the work for anybody else. Ultimately, it comes from within.
And, I will say, if you don't have the practice, it is hard. Very, very hard to talk about your feelings. That's a sign, though. Nothing worth doing is easy. You don't have to be a slave to your emotions, where they come and go and do as they please with your body and mind. They aren't some other mystical thing that cannot be spoken about. You create them. So, you need to understand them. Only then can you control them. And, never mistake masking, coping or ignorance for control. They are the complete absence of control.
If you talk to any man who’s overcome adversity, they’ll straight up tell you they didn’t do any of this nonsense.
Diet
Exercise
Faith
Faith isn't really a cure for anything, and many mental health issues are caused by faith, because many religious organizations use fear and shame as tools. Most encourage simply covering up mental health issues or just pretending they don't exist. Both exacerbate, not solve, mental health issues.