Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month
Dr. Chance D. Gallo
The month of June holds many significant meanings: the beginning of summer, Father’s Day, and men’s mental health awareness. As a male mental health counselor and as a man who has received counseling more than once, I’ll be the first to say, men, take that first step, trust in yourself, and invest in your healing.
This article will focus on the important role men play in our society and how so many men are often impacted in ways that often lead to men feeling alone. What does it mean to be a man? Are there stronger or weaker examples of men? What does the Bible say about being a man? This article will address all of these questions and more.
What is a man?
First, let’s break down the idea of what a man is and how society defines men. We begin with a basic biological definition of men, since this seems to be misconstrued by so many in Western societies currently.

For example, while one society says a man is a provider of his home and an equal parent/partner in his family, other societies say the man is dominant and women are inferior. For many men, this creates a huge expectation that men have to be a certain way, meet a certain standard, or even behave a certain way to meet the mold of a societal definition.
Psychologically, many men in the United States are raised with the notion that demonstrating any other emotion besides anger is considered weakness and is often ridiculed. However, do men not have the same emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness, anger, fear, etc.) as women? The importance of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month is to recognize that men have emotions and require validation for those emotions, just as women do.
Yet, women seek out counseling significantly more than men do, and most men who do attend counseling are there for challenges others tell him he has rather than being encouraged to face his troubles and be reinforced with love and support from those closest to him. This is a thought-provoking reality as a male mental health counselor: that support for women is limitless, while support for men is limited. Let that sink in for a moment.
Men’s Mental Health and Pregnancy
Let’s take a bigger step forward and look at specific examples that currently cause such contention in the United States. Consider the topic of abortion. Are you pro-life, pro-choice, don’t care, etc.? The emphasis of this narrative is how abortions impact women, which it primarily does since a woman’s body is impacted first and foremost by growing a new human life.
However, where does the man’s (i.e., father’s) perspective come into this situation when a woman is contemplating a decision that will not only impact her, the baby growing inside her, but the father of that child as well? Many men are frequently dismissed when this topic arises because society is in love with the notion of “my body, my choice” rather than looking at this from the perspective that the decision to create life began with two, not one.
“Overall, this review found several common themes across studies that have explored men’s experiences of pregnancy loss. Specifically, findings indicated that men typically feel as though they need to take on a ‘supporter’ role for their female partner, which may come at the expense of their own health and well-being [10, 39–44].
“In addition, the existing body of research indicates that pregnancy loss may lead to a loss of identity related to both the anticipated father role, and the grief and loss associated with the changes which may come after a pregnancy loss [41, 43, 46]. Finally, existing research mirrors that with women in finding that pregnancy loss and associated grief lack social recognition, leading to disenfranchised grief for men, as well as challenges accessing support and often negative impacts upon relationships [10, 39, 43–45].” (Due, et al., 2017)
Men are often expected to take on a supportive role during times of grief, making many men suffer in silence. Personally, it was incredibly taxing on my mental health when my wife miscarried our first child. It was a pain that words cannot articulate how you could feel such love and loss for someone you haven’t met yet.
Even being in the mental health field, it was hard to find support for this while grieving the loss of my unborn child. However, I did find comfort in some men who were willing to be vulnerable, and by going before my Lord and Savior to find comfort in that loss.
The Bible on a Man’s Mental Health
Anyone can be a father, biologically, but it takes a real man, a dedicated man, to follow through with the good and bad to be called dad. A Christian man who fights for his family while being a part of his family is a man of the Lord. Too many children in the United States are fatherless, regardless of race, gender, creed, or religion. This is the time for more men to step up and change the trajectory of chaos for the betterment of future generations of men.
Spiritually, the Bible defines a man as being Christ-like, brave, humble, and loving. The Bible teaches that man is created in God’s image, which implies (among other things) that men are to embody God’s Word. Specifically, God tells men to guard their priorities, such as their time, their mind, their relationships, and their energy.
How do men spend their time, who do they spend their time with, and are they conforming to social pressure rather than being true to the Word of God? Many men will find themselves being one person in one environment and having an alternative persona based on their audience, rather than being a man of consistency, regardless of their environment.
In psychology, this is defined as a social mask or public image by Carl Jung, a pioneer in psychoanalysis. Jung describes a social mask as the social role a person adopts to fit in with society or navigate through various social situations. However, God commands consistency and deliberation in our words, actions, and thoughts. What do men do with these qualities of life?
As previously stated, most men struggle with a level of healthy consistency and feel affirmed in their feelings and behaviors when other men are experiencing similar challenges. However, in Proverbs 27:17, God tells us that iron sharpens iron, which means men need to sharpen other men to be more Christ-centered.
It is the responsibility of every man to affirm other men, recognize that men have emotions, break through the falsehood that emotions make a man weak, and finally encourage more men to build each other up. It is okay to not be okay as a man. Being a man is difficult, and now more than ever, when society has placed a negative focus on men, it is important to rise above it and show that we as men can rise above this in healthy and strong ways.
Next Steps
Learn to be vulnerable with those you trust, to be strong without always being loud, to accept help instead of having to do it yourself, and to heal your hurts. Men have an unspoken obligation to be leaders, whether directly or indirectly, in their environment. Men hold a lot of responsibility, but a broken man will only lead with more brokenness.
During this month that celebrates men’s mental health awareness, appreciate what you have overcome, learn to overcome what needs to be healed, and live with purpose.
Reference:
Due, C., Chiarolli, S., & Riggs, D. (2017). “The impact of pregnancy loss on men’s health and well-being: a systematic review.” BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth DOI 10.1186/s12884-017-1560-9
Photos:
“Candle Guy”, Courtesy of Brenkee, Pixabay.com, CC0 License; “Morning Caffeination”, Courtesy of Sung Wang, Unsplash.com, CC0 License; “Station”, Courtesy of Bruce Mars, Unsplash.com, CC0 License; “Working”, Courtesy of Windows, Unsplash.com, CC0 License