JUNE is celebrated as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) reported that, during the pandemic period, Jamaica saw a notable increase in the number of suicides, with the majority of these tragic deaths being older men. This rise in suicides must raise serious concerns among health officials, families, and communities throughout the country, the JCF said. Also, the Ministry of Health reported in 2020 that the suicide rate was approximately 2.1 per 100,000, with statistics from JCF reflecting between 47 and 56 deaths per year due to suicide.

There are many variables that push people to believe that they should attempt suicide. Sometimes people are depressed but undiagnosed. Sometimes the early signs are not recognised. Signs include changes in appetite; feeling worthless or guilty; depressed mood; loss of energy; fatigue; and difficulty concentrating or making decisions.

The state of one’s social and economic situation can cause depression — and it is doubly depressing because men are expected to be macho, and to grin and bear it; it seems as if they are expected to turn off their emotions. This has resulted in them being angry, abusive and depressed.

The National Institute on Mental Health defines depression as a common but serious mood disorder which causes severe symptoms that affect how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.

Major depression includes symptoms of depressed mood or loss of interest — most of the time lasting for at least two weeks and interfering with daily activities.

There is also persistent depressive disorder (also called dysthymia or dysthymic disorder), which has less severe symptoms of depression but which last much longer, usually for at least two years; and depression with symptoms of psychosis, a severe form of depression in which a person experiences psychosis symptoms such as delusions (disturbing, false, fixed beliefs) or hallucinations (hearing or seeing things others do not hear or see).

Father’s Day just passed, and there was talk of men being “sperm donors” and women being lauded as fathers, further demoralising men. Too often people emasculate men and give no thought to how it affects their psyche. History will support an argument that blacks, not just Jamaicans, are suffering from ancestral trauma connected to slavery and men are not allowed to show their pain. There are men who struggle everyday to ensure that they provide for their families.

Men should not be made to feel as if they cannot share their vulnerabilities. Men can cry. Men should cry. The greatest man who walked on the face of earth cried.

Crying is a form of release. From a Christian perspective, crying to one’s maker indicates a knowledge that there is someone to share the burdens faced, and secondly, crying, according to healthline.com, “may support both the body and mind by restoring emotional balance, dulling pain, and activating your parasympathetic nervous system to help you self-soothe, among other benefits”.

Crying for long periods of time releases oxytocin and endogenous opioids, otherwise known as endorphins. These feel-good chemicals can help ease both physical and emotional pain. Once the endorphins are released, one’s body may go into somewhat of a numb stage. Oxytocin can give one a sense of calm or well-being.

What must be done for the remainder of this month is that men must seek to maintain their mental health. So, cry if you have to, find someone to speak with, find relaxing activities, and laugh.

Natesha Lindsay is an educator.