SUMMARY AND REFLECTION

Male depression and suicide is still largely misunderstood. Masculine dominant gender norms have shown to be a major barrier to engaging in help-seeking behaviours. Males often face a double stigma: masculine gender norm expectations and mental illness stigmas. As a society, it is important that we create an open and honest environment to create a meaningful conversation regarding male depression and suicide. It is hard to hear that so many are suffering in silence and that men feel as if they are not ‘manly’ if they seek help for their mental health issues. A major confounding factor when researching suicide statistics is the fact that many sources of data are not current and this can result in having to take a more generalized approach. Another confounding factor is the fact that there is not a substantial amount of Canadian based studies regarding male suicide, and men’s mental health remains largely under researched. Throughout my research for this topic, I really realized how large and influential stigmas and masculine related stigmas could be for men. I think that for women, we are often encouraged to talk about our feelings, yet men are told to keep things to themselves and ‘man up’. Suicide and its definitions also vary quite a bit and can result in suicides being misclassified or underreported. Something that shocked me was that such a large number of males never seek help and that documentable risk factors are largely underreported or not reported at all for those who do choose to seek help. I hope that through the discussion of this topic that people can become more aware of how big of a public health issue suicide is for males not only in Canada but worldwide. Men are told that ‘boys don’t cry’, that they should not express emotion openly and to be stoic and strong. I personally think it is time to change the narrative and let boys and men know that their feelings are valid and that it is okay to talk to others. By opening up the conversation and through various prevention efforts, thousands upon thousands of lives can be saved from suicide.