By Letícia Medeiros
The shooting in Parkland brought back the country's huge, important, complex discussion about gun control and mental health. There are 2 general point of views: the first one is that mentally ill people are the problem, and the other one is that guns are the problem. In my opinion, these two things walk hand in hand.
Yes, I believe America should have stricter gun control, but mentally ill people still need to be helped regardless of whether or not they can get a gun. Especially, mentally ill men, who not so coincidentally, are more prone to be the offender in school shootings than women. Like many people, until recently I believed the problem was simple and banning guns was the solution, but an article from The New York Times written by Michael Ian Black opened my eyes to the terrifying reality of men's mental health.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, men die by suicide 3.5 times more often than women even though women are more commonly diagnosed with mental illness. That’s because the stigma surrounding mental illness is more likely to prevent men from asking for help than women. According to statistics compiled by the Men’s Health Forum, middle aged men (45-59) are particularly at risk. And a 2012 study carried out by The Samaritans speculated that that is because middle-aged men today may feel stuck somewhere between the strong, silent male stereotype of their father's generation and the more progressive and open generation of their son's. One suggestion from the study is to develop effective interventions for young boys at risk as many of the patterns seen to lead to suicide in middle age often begin in youth.
But male suicide is only one of the tragedies caused by mental illness. The stigma surrounding men and mental health is the root for many other tragedies, the most public of them being school shootings, or just shootings in general. Others, take place daily in a smaller scale, in the form of abuse toward women. Holding young boys to an outdated model of masculinity is hurting all of us, and it needs to stop.
As a young teenage girl today, I am the beneficiary of decades of conversation about the challenges that come with being a woman, but no one is having that conversation with boys. Who’s telling boys that it’s okay to be vulnerable and open? Who’s telling boys that it’s okay to ask for and get help? Who’s telling boys that they don’t need to play sports to be masculine? There’s still a long way to go towards equality between genders, and making sure that men can get to the same level of mental health as women is just another barrier we need to cross.
This article was inspired by an article titled "The Boys Are Not All Right" by Michael Ian Black for The New York Times. Click here to read it.
But male suicide is only one of the tragedies caused by mental illness. The stigma surrounding men and mental health is the root for many other tragedies, the most public of them being school shootings, or just shootings in general. Others, take place daily in a smaller scale, in the form of abuse toward women. Holding young boys to an outdated model of masculinity is hurting all of us, and it needs to stop.
As a young teenage girl today, I am the beneficiary of decades of conversation about the challenges that come with being a woman, but no one is having that conversation with boys. Who’s telling boys that it’s okay to be vulnerable and open? Who’s telling boys that it’s okay to ask for and get help? Who’s telling boys that they don’t need to play sports to be masculine? There’s still a long way to go towards equality between genders, and making sure that men can get to the same level of mental health as women is just another barrier we need to cross.
This article was inspired by an article titled "The Boys Are Not All Right" by Michael Ian Black for The New York Times. Click here to read it.