SHARES
“They think I’m the head of the family, I shouldn’t fall sick”
Men, although perceived to have more privileges than women in certain aspects, have a great responsibility to society and their families. This responsibility comes at a price as it affects your wellbeing. This indifference that men have towards wellbeing accounts for a significantly lower life expectancy than women as well as for the fact you are three times more likely to take your own lives than women.
Moreover, more men than women are diagnosed with obesity and heart problems which are major contributors to diseases. One study of middle-aged men reveals that you are less likely to seek help for health problems, whether from a GP, dentist, pharmacist or even via the internet.
How does this happen? How does one-half of the population turn a blind eye to their own well-being?
Ignorance
Sheldon Marks M.D from WebMD comments “When men are young, they think they’re going to live forever – nothing’s going to get in their way. That’s why young guys do stupid things; they think it’s not going to hurt them. They don’t realize that “never happening to me,” changes to “it will happen”, and then it’s just around the corner.”
By the time you become aware, it’s already too late; you’ve lived through years of abusive behavior. You’ve eaten the wrong foods, drank too much; you smoke, live stressful lives, have hypertension, diabetes, liver disorders, and cholesterol problems. A review of data notes a similar trend in which males die at higher rates in under 1 and above 15-year-old groups in most disease categories compared with women.
The main causes of death in men are non-communicable diseases and injuries. Underlying causes are due to risk-taking behavior, smoking, obesity, and hypertension. Unhealthy conditions like obesity, hypertension are commonplace but responsive to early intervention. Unfortunately, they often go unreported and in an untimely manner. As a result opportunities for early intervention are missed, reflecting on the poor health knowledge and inadequate health-care amongst Asian men.
Societal Norms
Social roles and social circumstances have a significant influence on the male image of masculinity and contribute to why you are shy to seek help. Researchers in a study, show a need to address common at-risk health problems amongst men and their reluctance to seek help, might be the reasons for such problems. Men tend to be ignorant about their health and they seldom discuss why they are slow with seeking help. Psychologists pin slow help-seeking behavior to men trying to maintain their masculine image and not so much to social-cultural influences.
On the upside, the same masculinity drive becomes the reason behind the sudden change later in life. Studies show that men become more involved in their health upon starting a family. A study looking at the influence of South Asian’s culture also notes that some attributes of masculinity, such as ‘to be a responsible family man’, act as motivators to appropriate help-seeking behavior.
Hence, perhaps we could use this to motivate men in our lives to lead healthy lifestyles and improve positive health-seeking behavior earlier on in life. By improving health knowledge among young boys, we may be able to decrease the number of men dying earlier from non-communicable diseases. Ultimately this leads to a better quality of life for the other half of our population!
So dear men, perhaps it’s time you start putting your well-being first.
The world can wait.
Your health and well-being can’t.
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by Yashwini Ravindranath
Born & raised in Malaysia, Yashwini earned her M.D. studying in Moscow's Russian National Research Medical University. With an affiliation towards research, all things coffee and the startup ecosystem, she now contributes articles to GetDocSays View all articles by Yashwini Ravindranath.
