#Men Speak out! Speak Up!

 

#Men, Unmute and Share Matters of the Heart

There is quite a number of serious matters of the heart, which men do not share with the people closer to them. They die alone without any help. Particularly health issues and other matters that affect their lives. They tend to remain mute until the situation has worsened. This is due to their upbringing, where they are taught and conditioned to be masculine. Men are emotional beings too; they are allowed to laugh or cry when the need arises. But they are taught to restrain their emotions. This result in men dying silently and alone without help. Matters of the heart in men include among other things; emotional well-being, feelings, health issues, being broke, erectile dysfunction and others. This article will only address six of those.

1.    Depression as a matter of the heart

It does not need a rocket scientist to compare the number of men versus women who suffer mental illness. If you move up and down a street of any town and start counting the number of men and women rooming the streets due to mental illness, you get an immediate answer. The number of men who suffer mental illness is higher than the number of women who suffer the same ailment. Why? Men will always say it is fine. Even when they are very much hurt. If men could learn to talk when they experience trouble in life, lots of them could be spared from this dreaded disease. Depression knows no boundaries. It does not know that this is a man or woman. It does not know the colour of the skin. Men bottle up issues in their hearts and later on slide into depression and explode or die a mercy death.

2.    Prostate inflammation as a matter of the heart

This is one common disease affecting men of ages 30 upwards. It is a nonbacterial Prostatitis. It is not due to bacterial infection, but can be induced by stress, nerve irritation, injuries or past unitary tract infections. Symptoms differ from person to person. However, the common ones are pain when peeing, needing to pee frequently (particularly at night, stop-start peeing, an urgent need to pee and, sometimes, blood in your urine). Medical practitioners can easily treat this. Nevertheless, men being men might keep quiet until more damage has been done. If left untreated, complications such as inability to maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction) may occur. #Unmute! Do not die alone in silence. Help is readily available.

3.    Erectile dysfunction as a matter of the heart 

According to men’s masculinity, this is a shameful subject to talk about openly. Men would rather speak to their peers during their leisure time in drinking holes. In addition, they do not advise each other for the better. This kind of ailment happens when a man cannot get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse.

This can be a sign of a physical or psychological condition. It can cause stress, relationship strain and harm self-confidence. Some men would resort to excessive drinking to avoid any discussion of the subject.

4.    Diabetes as a matter of the heart

Research shows that approximately 11.3 % of the South African population is living with diabetes. It is unfortunate that many do not know that they have diabetes. This serious disease if left untreated can cause vision problems, kidney damage, nerve damage, stroke and heart disease. It may also cause erectile dysfunction, which is a taboo topic to the male species. Research shows that men are twice as likely develop type 2 diabetes as women. Do you think men will immediately seek help? Unfortunately, not. They are likely to drag their feet until it is too late.

5.    Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) as a matter of the heart

These are common sexually transmitted infections. Men are likely to develop penile cancer or genital warts from these infections. Do men easily talk and get treatment on time? Usually not because they are men. They would seek help when a lot of damage has been done to their bodies. Men are also good at denying the obvious. Does it do men any good? Not at all. #Men unmute and seek help. Learn to open up and discuss matters of the heart.

6.    Low testosterone as the matter of the heart

This sex hormone begins to decline around the age of 40 years. This natural decline of the hormone causes unwelcome symptoms like low sex drive or trouble concentrating. Men are happy and feel masculine when their libido is high. This is an element of male pride. Once the sex drive declines, they start flinching. The situation is manageable if one seeks help. Do men have to die in silence? No. Help is always available. Speak out and speak up!

If only men could learn to unmute and start opening up, the mortality rate due to all these ailments could drop. Family suicides perpetuated by men could decline. #Men unmute and get help.

Final Thoughts

From an early age men are conditioned to believe that expressing their feelings is a sign of weakness and non-masculine identity. Men are taught that crying in front of other people threatens their masculinity. Bottling up emotions can impact negatively the mental and spiritual health of men.

Men who hold back their feelings are more likely to be stressed, anxious and depressed. #Men unmute and show that you are a human being too.