{"id":8820,"date":"2023-06-02T11:21:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T11:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=8820"},"modified":"2023-06-16T07:32:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T07:32:21","slug":"what-is-a-man-box-and-how-can-we-be-free-from-its-constraints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/mens-healthcare\/what-is-a-man-box-and-how-can-we-be-free-from-its-constraints\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a &#8216;Man Box&#8217; and how can we be free from its constraints?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-8877\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/06\/07210333\/Carmen-Bryce-Headshot-.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/06\/07210333\/Carmen-Bryce-Headshot-.jpg 250w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/06\/07210333\/Carmen-Bryce-Headshot--125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Carmen Bryce<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Communications Manager, Mental Health Ireland<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The phrase \u2018Man Box\u2019 has emerged in psychology in recent years to describe the constraints that exist around men and the conformity to masculine beliefs, which have a significant impact on men\u2019s health and mental health.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>From childhood, men are often \u2018boxed in\u2019 by what they can and cannot feel, say and do. Anything that doesn\u2019t fit or falls outside this box \u2014 playing with dolls, expressing fear or sadness \u2014 can pay a heavy social price. Boys learn quickly that they need to prove they fit in the box and as they grow into men, the box begins to feel smaller and smaller \u2014 more and more suffocating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Constraints of the \u2018Man Box\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking at Mental Health Ireland\u2019s \u2018Man I Am\u2019 webinar, Dr Shane O\u2019Donnell, Health Promotion and Improvement Officer with the HSE says: \u201cWe know from research that men who feel that they have to live up to these expectations often have negative mental health outcomes. They feel they have to be the breadwinner; self-reliant; emotionally withdrawn; the provider for the family; be physically strong; to drink alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt really is a very limited frame we feel we have to fit into. Men who don\u2019t fit into this frame can feel as if they\u2019re failing as a man. It also leaves us with a limited set of tools to respond to the stresses in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Men often go undiagnosed for mental health issues and are more reluctant to seek help than women.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-men-don-t-seek-help\"><strong>Men don\u2019t seek help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The box is surrounded by a code of silence \u2014 real men don\u2019t talk about their problems; real men don\u2019t ask for help. This prevents men from seeking professional help and care when going through emotional or personal crises. This can lead to a propensity for poor mental health, substance use, and suicidal tendency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ireland, men are four times more likely to die by suicide than women. However, there are higher rates of depression and anxiety among women. This indicates that men often go undiagnosed for mental health issues and are more reluctant to seek help than women when they\u2019re struggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Getting out of the \u2018Man Box\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Poor mental health and high suicide rates among men are a modern-day epidemic, and we\u2019re taking action. Ireland was the first country to have a men\u2019s health policy \u2014 largely driven by the Men\u2019s Health Forum in partnership with the HSE to support men\u2019s health and mental health. We must work hard to break the cycle of silence and shame among men and provide a safe and supportive space outside of the confines of the \u2018Man Box.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"color:#32373c;background-color:#63d3e7\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-notice Always Show ab-font-size-18 ab-block-notice\" data-id=\"e8d63c\"><div class=\"ab-notice-text\" style=\"border-color:#63d3e7\"><p>Men\u2019s Health Week runs from Monday, 12th until Sunday, 18th June. <br\/>For support, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/mentalhealthireland.ie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mentalhealthireland.ie<\/a><br\/><a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=m_D-Ole_q6M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watch the \u2018Man I Am\u2019 webina<\/a>r<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The phrase \u2018Man Box\u2019 has emerged in psychology in recent years to describe the constraints that exist around men and the conformity to masculine beliefs, which have a significant impact on men\u2019s health and mental health. From childhood, men are often \u2018boxed in\u2019 by what they can and cannot feel, say and do. Anything that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/mens-healthcare\/what-is-a-man-box-and-how-can-we-be-free-from-its-constraints\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":8822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5707],"tags":[5815],"class_list":["post-8820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-healthcare","tag-mens-healthcare-q2-2023"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/06\/07210341\/GettyImages-1330203121-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/06\/07210341\/GettyImages-1330203121-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Carolina Galbraith Duarte","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/carolinagalbraithduarte\/"},"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8820"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8990,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8820\/revisions\/8990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}