It is difficult to talk about mental health as a male in the United States. American men are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness and emotional isolation. As an American male, we have been taught that we shouldn’t need anyone, and that reaching out for help…especially with emotional or mental health issues…is a sign of weakness. As a result many American males don’t have the language to talk about their mental health struggles, and they don’t know how to reach out for help when they are feeling isolated and alone. We are raised with an ideal of manhood that is completely unrealistic and unhealthy and this stereotypical model of masculinity is exacting a terrible toll on men in the United States.

Mental health may be the last great frontier of civil rights policy. There continues to be significant amounts of fear and discrimination across society regarding individuals with mental illness.