• Men’s Issues
• Anger
• Stress
• Addictions
• Depression
• Relationship Problems
• Life Transitions
• Grief and Loss Issues
• Anxiety
• Self-Esteem

Men’s Issues

There has been a stigma on men seeking help in our society. Seeking help has often been seen as a sign of weakness. The reality is that men suffer from issues, and help is available. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness but rather one of great internal strength. It takes a lot of guts to put your hand up and say ‘Hey, I really need help with this here. It’s killing me and I don’t know what to do about it. I want to make it stop but it just won’t’. Below are some of the common issues that men experience:

• Anger
• Stress
• Addictions (Drugs, Alcohol, Porn)
• Depression
• Relationship Problems

Anger

Anger can be quite destructive when not managed well. Anger in itself is not a bad thing – it can actually be a rather healthy response in some situations. Rather, the danger is in how it is expressed. Harmful forms of expressing anger can include shouting, yelling, manipulation, abuse, coercion and physical violence.  Poor anger management can result in the alienation those around you – particularly close friends and family.

Stress

Stress is a very major part of people’s lives. Seemingly impossible to escape, and sometimes it can seem impossible to manage as well. There are many rigorous demands that are placed on people in society today and being the age of information, where everything is expected to be accessed “right here, right now” – stress levels are on the rise.

Addictions

Many people struggle with addictions as a way of coping with being overwhelmed by their emotions. This is not only limited to substances such as drugs or alcohol, but also extends to activities that provide a pleasurable feeling such as gambling or pornography. The substance or activity which becomes the focus provides a temporary relief from having to deal with the emotions at hand. However this usually has the side-effect of interfering with ordinary life responsibilities such as work, relationships and well-being.

Depression

Everybody experiences feelings of sadness and low moods from time to time. However, depression goes beyond this. Depression is an intense feeling of sadness or low mood for a long period of time, without an apparent reason. In men depression can manifests itself as intense anger. It can become very pervasive and interfere with all facets of personal life – particularly relationships with those close to you. Tasks which once seemed easy now seem impossible, and energy and motivation levels often run and remain quite low.

Relationship Problems

Relationships are not easy - whether they be friendships, family or romantic relationships. When you put two people together you are always going to find something that you can never quite see eye-to-eye with them on. People have their own way they like to do things and their own perspectives. You will often see these differences played out in the way you interact with those around you – and how they in turn interact with you. This does not always go smoothly and can spiral out of control very quickly. Differing opinions, feeling like you’re not being heard and a feeling of conflicts being unresolvable are common relationship problems.

Life Transitions

Life transitions are movements such as moving into a new area, starting a new job, finishing up at a job, etc. While these tasks sound very simple in themselves, there is a lot to process during these times. During life transitions there are many things that change, and there is a lot of adjusting and settling that needs to take place. This takes time to sit down and work out, as the rules of the game have now changed and there can often be a level of uncertainty.

Grief and Loss Issues

Grief is something that is never easy to deal with. The loss of someone dear to you definitely hits hard, yet also affects people in different ways. Finding a way to work through and express grief is essential to learning how to cope with these losses. However, grief is not exclusively related to death. People can experience feelings of loss from things such as losing their job, relationship breakdown and loss of ability. While these things are not related to something as severe as death, the feelings of loss are still very legitimate and are not to be taken lightly.

Anxiety

Everybody experiences feelings of anxiousness in everyday life. If you get stuck in traffic you wonder if you will make it to your destination in time. If you have a job interview you ask yourself at the end if you did enough to impress your prospective employer. However, for some people this goes beyond the normal feelings of anxiousness to an overwhelming feeling that makes daily life very difficult. In modern society it has become a very common issue. One in four people will experience an anxiety disorder at some stage in their lives. Life is very fast-paced and demanding, and sometimes it can be very difficult to figure out exactly where everything fits in.

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem, in a nutshell can be summed up with this question – How much do I value myself? For some people, this answer will be quite positive. However, for others it will be quite negative. Having negative self-esteem can be a major issue for people which results in them trying to find other sources to give them value. It can be easy to lose sight of who you are in all this and get caught up in chasing the approval of others by attempting to meet all their needs and expectations – no matter how unrealistic they might be.