Dominant, assertive and insensitive. This is how we have stereotypically identified masculinity, but with devastating consequences for the psyche, especially after the end of a romantic relationship, a new study published in Social Science and Medicine - Qualitative Research in Health reveals.
In an attempt to explore men's psychology after such a pivotal event as a breakup, the research team conducted interviews with 47 men from Australia and Canada who had recently broken up.
The men were asked to describe their relationship, with its good and bad points, and to respond about how they felt after the breakup with their partner.
After assessing the questionnaires, it was found that most of the men developed symptoms of mental illness, such as anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, anger, and increased use of drugs or alcohol. Similar were the results of a previous study, which had shown that men experienced greater emotional pain after a breakup compared to women.
But the most interesting aspect of the study is the further analysis of the source of these feelings. More than a few participants said that they had no one to turn to for relief from their emotional distress, leaving them feeling isolated. Instead, they sought refuge in substance use, such as alcohol.
"What we concluded is that men feel quite isolated after a breakup," explains John Oliffe, study leader, founder and principal investigator of the Men's Health Research Program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "These challenges they face may relate to the shallowness of friendly male relationships. So the loss of a partner is huge because often, the partner is the person they trust. And so when that emotional investment is lost, they may have no other outlet for those feelings."
In short, men find themselves in the position of suppressing their feelings and not expressing their sensitivity - even during their relationship though - with the main stumbling block to this lack of communication being stereotypical masculine behavior, toxic masculinity if we want to be more precise. These behaviors and perceptions, experts note, could start quite early in boys' lives.
However, something seems to be changing, as one positive finding of the study was that several men eventually sought help to improve their mental health after the breakup, from personal development to expressing their feelings to friends or a mental health professional.
Source: ygeiamou.gr
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