Dr. Elaine Ducharme’s Tips to Keep Men Emotionally & Physically Healthy

By Elaine Ducharme, Ph.D.

Dozens of studies over the past several decades have shown that men of all ages and ethnicities are less likely than women to seek help for all sorts of problems, including physical and emotional issues. This is often generational. Boys learn from their dads who learned from their dads that talking about emotions or even getting treatment for physical problems may be a sign of weakness. They worry that colleagues, friends and employers will look down on any man that does not just tough it out. Many learn to suppress sad emotions or even facial expressions. Unfortunately, these emotions then get redirected into anger and can lead to ineffective coping skills that impact overall health and even relationships.

Men are far more likely to seek help for problems they see as normative…problems that other men share. Education campaigns can help. Men are now much more likely to see a doctor about erectile dysfunction because advertisements have led to increased public awareness. The Collaborative Divorce process encourages men to talk about their own reactions to divorce and develop healthier styles of communication.

Here are 4 tips to help our men stay healthy:

1. Start early and make sure our young boys know it is okay to talk about their feelings and get help when needed.
2. Provide feelings charts for our children and encourage the use of a variety of words to describe how their emotions.
3. Help to normalize both physical and emotional problems. Talk about it with your male friends. Ask if they have received their routine exams.
4. Encourage employers and places men frequent such as barber shops, religious institutions and even bars to provide educational materials that help men learn about the frequency of both physical and mental health issues and normalize getting help.