5 Strategies Men can Implement to Manage Negative Emotions

Some practical thoughts for men on handling emotions.

Stereotypically, men have only a few ways we deal with negative emotions:

• We get drunk.
• We punch each other.
• We “man up,” stuffing our feelings down until we die of heart disease.

I don’t think we socialize men well to handle strong emotions well. We still haven’t quite emerged from the “boys don’t cry” era. I spoke to a friend recently who sent her daughter than her son through the same preschool. The way they treated her son when he cried was vastly different than the way they treated her daughter.

How to Get Positive Feedback for your Presentation http://buff.ly/2nLq71FThere’s still something shameful and “unmanly” about having strong emotions. Men aren’t allowed to be sad. This is a cultural effect. For example, we know that around 50% of adults who experience symptoms of depression will not seek help or talk to a doctor about it. However, 90% of African-American males who experience depression will never get mental health help.

And while women are twice as likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, men (depending on age) are about three times as likely to commit suicide. The cultural stigma around mental and emotional health is killing males.

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