The mental health stigma.

Men are stigmatised in our society for discussing their emotions or incidents that have occurred in and have caused them distress.

"Boys don't whine" "Don't be a numbskull" "Man up," as the saying goes. "You're such a softie." These things are said and taught to boys from an early age and the impact of such sayings turn into heavyweights which then is all carried into adulthood. Their feelings are not always validated and are told to shut down. Men's anger is often fueled by fear, according to psychologists. Anger is a secondary emotion which means there is typically always something else underneath it, like fear, sadness, or jealousy. "Both men and women have been poorly served by the gender socialization they have received," said psychologist Sandra Thomas in a post for the American Psychological Association. "Men have been encouraged to be more overt with their anger. If boys have a conflict on the playground, they act it out with their fists. Girls have been encouraged to keep their anger down." Often, men are pushing down other feelings underneath the rage, this is because of all the saying that goes around since their childhood. Men are not encouraged to show socially acceptable emotions. They are told they are not "allowed" to. We have many grown men walking around with so many bottled up emotions. They don't talk about the traumas they experienced. Instead, they suffer in silence. This needs to change, Now. We need to create space for men to be more open. This starts in childhood. We need to teach our boys that it is okay to cry, that it is okay to talk about the hard stuff, that it is okay if you feel like you have no solution. That it's okay to be human.