November is Men’s Health Month! When has a guy opened up to you about his mental health and how did it make you feel?

6 comments

1. [removed]

2. One of my closest guy friends has BPD and disclosed that to me this summer.

   I felt incredibly humbled and grateful that he felt comfortable enough to share with me.

   It also made a few things in our friendship make more sense.

3. A long time friend confessed is marriage wasn’t as happy as everybody thought they were. Made happy being able to help a little and conviced him to ask his wife to go to couple’s therapy. They are doing better.

4. It’s been a few months (I’ve moved across the country so I haven’t seen him since then) but I have one guy friend that I go on long drives with when either of us is having a shit day.

   We share some mental health struggles and it’s an honor that he feels comfortable with me that he can talk about the hard shit he’s going through.

5. My guy friends are all open about their emotions and mental health. I struggle with talking about my internal state more than they do so I learn from them a lot.
   On topic i think, there’s a movie that just came out called ‘close’ (belgian production) that explores tenderness and affection in friendship between guys. I’m looking forward to see it and I think it’s a great cultural climate to cast some light on ‘male intimacy’. Go watch it if you can!

6. That’s been strongly dependent on the context and content of that conversation, our relationship (or lack thereof), and the specific situation.

   I’ve felt anything from being sympathetic, supportive, and comforting with a desire to help to feeling upset, frightened, and concerned for my safety and well-being with a desire to get away from them.

   The main difference has been whether our relationship was appropriate for that kind of conversation, whether they were being dangerous/threatening/demanding/blaming/manipulative/coercive, how close we were, what situation they opened up in and about, and a host of other related concerns.

   There’s a lot more to my reaction and how I felt about it than simply the disclosure of mental health status. Context, situational appropriateness, and how it was presented to me have always been very important factors.