Self-Care for Men – we will consider
In the first part of this blog – Why Men Don’t Practice Self-Care we discussed, ‘What is Self-Care?’, ‘Why is it important to practice selfcare?’ and ‘Why men don’t practice self-care?’
Today we will discuss different ways that men can practice good self-care and how it will improve physical, emotional and mental health.
We could look at the lighter side of self-care things like hair, beards, clothes, saunas. We will concentrate on some of the deeper subjects of Self-care. Thing’s men that at times don’t like to talk about or think about: Health, Mental Health, and Sleep deprivation
1 Health
Good self-care practices for men include improve health, mental health, diet, and physical exercise.
Some of the main reasons for premature deaths in men are blood pressure leading to strokes, heart disease, respiratory disease – asthma sometimes caused by smoking, prostate cancers, alcohol, depression leading to suicide.
What steps can You take to protect your health? We are going to look at three areas:
Taking symptoms seriously
One thing that is consistent with most men is that men tend to delay seeking healthcare and making an appointment to see the Doctor to the very, very last minute. They ignore or dismiss symptoms of illness.
“Many men see self-care as an admission of weakness. We are taught to be self-sufficient, and Doctors are for everyone but ourselves. That result is ignoring tell-tale symptoms of not only COVID but many life-threatening conditions.” Healthline – July 2021
David Ezell – Chief Executive Officer of Darien Wellness, a Mental Health Group in Connecticut.
SO, IF YOU HAVE HAD A SYMPTOM FOR A WEEK, A MONTH, OR MONTHS – BOOK AN APPOINTMENT AND GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!
2 Mental Health
A shocking statistic I read is noted below.
“Suicide and injury or poisoning of undetermined intent was the leading cause of death for both males and females aged 20 to 34 years in the UK, for all years observed. Males had over three times the number of deaths from suicide compared with females for each year observed in this age group. In 2018, there were 1,233 male deaths from suicide and injury or poisoning of undetermined intent (27.1% of total male deaths for those aged 20 to 34 years)”
Office of National Statics 2001 -2018
Shocking right!
Why are so many men taking their lives? There are many reasons, some very complex. However something is more obvious:
Men don’t talk
Most men don’t talk about their real feelings and fears. It’s not seen as manly. As was said in a previous blog post this is sometimes something that has been inherited. Thus, men have to change the dynamics of this problem, they have to :
Get Talking
One key way men can look after their mental health and self-care is -by talking. It doesn’t matter who we chose: friend, family, partner, work colleague, or counsellor, it’s important that you try to find at least one person you can open up to. It’s important that you get your feelings out.
Many men worry constantly about the: “bills- how am I going to pay the winter gas bill? Everything has gone up. What can I do“, “The job -will I lose my job in the restructure, will the pandemic cause them to let some staff go” These are just some of the worries that go through the mind?
Thus, the key to the conversation in your head is to tell someone who will listen, empathize and maybe give a little advice. They may not solve your problem but as they say, a “problem shared is a problem halved”
Be there for the Men in your life
Have you seen your friend struggling especially in these times of the Pandemic and you say “ I don’t want to poke my nose in, or he will get over it or he’s a private person he won’t want to talk to me about his problem “
If you are a friend and you care about him, try to offer him some support and a kind ear to talk to. It may feel uncomfortable to start with but it’s not about you it’s about him
You might go for a drink and a chat or a coffee but once it’s in a neutral place i.e., not his house, your house but in a safe neutral place you may find he will open up to you and you can offer some help.
Learn how to ask for help
Pride sometimes gets in the way of a man getting help. Not knowing how to ask for help or trying to solve the problem himself is a major problem for a lot of men in all areas of life.
From choosing not to go to the GP for an illness until things are really bad. refusing to acknowledge or work on mental health problems is a major problem for many men. It all comes down to avoidance and hoping the issues will go away all on their own. So, men need to accept that they do have weaknesses and frailties and seek out help for either their physical health or mental health. It is important to talk about your worries and also keep active with your hobbies. It could be golf, gardening, working with wood
Get Enough sleep
NHS quotes say- “1 in 3 of us suffers from poor sleep, with stress, computers, and taking work home to blame.” We could also add TV, the media and mobile phones.
“The effect can be “ regular poor sleep puts us at risk of serious medical problems including obesity, coronary heart disease, and diabetes which can all shorten our life expectancy”-NHS.
One of the actions men can take is to read before sleep as this will put most men to sleep. Turn off the TV, Mobile, and other bits of equipment in the bedroom. Try other soothing methods to get to sleep
Keep regular sleep hours
Going to bed when you feel tired and getting up at roughly the same time helps teach your body to sleep better. Try to avoid napping where possible
Keep the bedroom reasonably cool about 18c. Finally, take regular exercise as this will help your body to relax and actually fall asleep. Keep active during the day it will help you to sleep better.
Other areas to consider are: Eat more fruit and vegetables – your diet. We all know about 5 a day. Drink at least 2-4 litres of water per day – Keep hydrated
So, with everything being considered Men take your Self-Care seriously, If you don’t no one else will.
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