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Post by arifhussainmd3 on Sept 1, 2016 9:48:56 GMT -4
Article is wake up call for men and the society at large that suicides are real. Although it is very hard for some to understand why people take such a drastic step to cope with their inner conflicts, depression, and stress, this problem needs open-minded approach and recognize that there are people around us who may be the victims. Although women try suicide more often them men, but men are more successful at it. This awareness should instigate the kind of movement that this article is addressing. It is ok to talk to someone about your problems. Boys are socially trained to "tough it out", and not let other people see your emotions of fragility and depression. Movements like this needs to change this paradigm; perhaps we can save lives of people some of whom are closest friends and family members. It is important for us to see and recognize signs of suicidal ideations and tell our friends or make them feel that it is OK to talk about it and let it out.
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Post by Paul Mtonga (MS3) on Sept 1, 2016 11:44:11 GMT -4
Social media is a very powerful tool, and it’s always good to see it used for a positive cause and platform to raise social awareness. Talking about mental health is the first step to eliminating the negative stereotype around it – but for men, this can be particularly challenging because we live in a society where “being a man” is equated with “being tough” – and “being tough” is equated with being silent. The “#ItsOkayToTalk” campaign is a great initiative and big step in the right direction towards eliminating the stigma that surrounds mental health by encouraging men to speak up about mental health, especially at a time when suicide remains one of the leading causes of death in men under 45.
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Post by elshaddaitesfaye on Sept 1, 2016 12:12:22 GMT -4
In this day and age, social media has become a major part of many American lives. From Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, it has become a source of news, a creative outlet, and also an outlet to speak on one’s beliefs and feelings. This article discusses why men are posting selfies with the “OK” gesture to promote conversation about mental illness and suicide. There is a major stigma of speaking about mental illness so it is great that social media has become an outlet where people can discuss this. Not only is there a stigma of mental illness in our society, there is also a major stigma against men speaking about their emotions for fear of demasculinization. This is a problem not only in our country but around the world. With this stigma men are not able to express emotions which can be detrimental if they suffer from mental illness. I believe the #ItsOkayToTalk campaign is great because it allows men (and women) to see that it is ok to not be ok and it is ok to talk about it. With social media, people are able to learn that they are not the only ones suffering from these problems and once they know that it opens up the door for them to feel comfortable enough to find the courage to possibly getting the help they may desperately need.
El Shaddai Tesfaye (MS3)
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Anirudh Lingamaneni
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Post by Anirudh Lingamaneni on Sept 1, 2016 12:27:53 GMT -4
I definitely agree that stigma definitely plays a part in a person ability to open up, and it's movements like these that help people open up. While it's not comfortable for people to talk about suicide, I think it's need so that people can get help. Since though like these has been looked down upon for many years, these kinda of campaign will slowly start to bring more awareness and eventually help people express themselves and get the help they need. Sometime just talking about it to someone else can save a life, so with campaigns like its #itsokaytotalk it might just give people the courage they need to talk to someone and reduce suicide.
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Post by Gurinder Sidhu- Extern on Sept 1, 2016 13:42:18 GMT -4
The stigma of mental health in the male gender is a serious issue and I am glad to see a campaign such as this one break down the stigma walls. Internet memes and campaigns such as the ALS ice bucket challenge brought an awareness to ALS that had never been see before. I feel as if this campaign might have a similar effect showing people and specifically men it is not a weakness to speak about mental illness. Many men go through life manifesting their mental illness issues in ways that might come out in other ways and these issues may go unnoticed. By showing “its ok,” many men may use this campaign as the push they may need to seek help. By seeing it is not a weakness and many types of men need help show that it is indeed ok.
Gurinder Sidhu- Extern
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Post by Neda Ebrahimi MS3 on Sept 1, 2016 17:06:54 GMT -4
Social media is a great tool and can help us in many ways as this article demonstrates. It's unfortunate that some men see talking about their mental issues and suicidal thoughts as a weakness and do no want talk about it with anyone. They fear about showing emotions and keep everything bottled inside until it's too late to help them. I believe sharing statistics about suicide rates in social media is a great way to educate the general public about this silent killer among young men. I am glad to see people taking initiatives such as #itsoktotalk to help others in need.
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Post by Emily Keys MS3 on Sept 1, 2016 17:27:57 GMT -4
What better way to quickly spread the word about something nowadays than through the use of social media? Most people’s understanding of what is going on in the world today is from social media, even if you don’t want to admit it. I feel social media is appropriate for this particular stigma surrounding mental health illnesses and suicide. First, by reaching out and letting men know that it is ok to talk openly about their daily struggles. Secondly, this campaign is providing men with an outlet for their feelings and battles. Society portrays men as strong and stable; therefore, it makes it difficult for a man to speak openly about his weaknesses and suffering. Men should be able to share their distressing thoughts without backlash due to the current stigma surrounding suicide. I feel as though this campaign applies to everyone. It is ok for any gender, race, ethnicity, and age to speak out and openly about their struggles with mental health illness and suicide.
Emily Keys MS3
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Post by ekemini MS3 on Sept 1, 2016 19:13:11 GMT -4
Two lines/problems stick out reading this article and right off the bat,I feel there are two possible solutions to them.
1-"There are lots of contributing factors to men’s heightened risk of suicide, and masculinity is a big one." 2-"Some scholars talk about suicide among U.S. men as a ‘silent epidemic’ because of how often it occurs and how little public awareness there is about this fact." The possible solutions- One way to convince more men to seek help, is to convince them that the things they need help with are "NORMAL".Men are going in to see their doctors much more about erectile dysfunction now, after the ads for Viagra and other drugs, because there's so much more awareness.In the same vein its good to see social media being used as a medium to create awareness for this cause. This article also addresses the stigma associated with mental illness coupled with the macho era we live in and this becomes a big issue.However its good to see social media being a platform for awareness and we hope this campaign and several others get men and the society as a whole realize the struggles of having a mental illness and being treated like an alien.
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Post by Jackson Nguyen MS4 on Sept 2, 2016 9:46:04 GMT -4
I think that making sure it is ok for men to talk about their feelings and to help prevent suicide is such an important topic. It is a very sad fact that the success of suicide among men is so much higher then women. I believe the article hits the nail on the head with the idea of masculinity and that it is the manly thing to do to bottle up and not talk about feelings. Keeping everything bottled up does not help, especially in cases of suicide. Granted, this is a social movement, but it does open up the idea of it being ok for men to seek mental help and that it is not "feminine" to take care of yourself.
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Post by Roop Waraich (MS3) on Sept 2, 2016 9:47:12 GMT -4
Suicide as a whole, is a growing problem for all of the world. Male suicide in particular, is heavily growing in prevalence. This article brings up the must troubling fact, which is the fact that society in general has painted this picture of "masculinity" that all men must abide by, in order to feel more like a "man". That picture, shuns away all expression of emotions and thoughts that may seem "unmanly", and because of that, men are less likely to tell anyone that they are feeling depressed, or are having thoughts of suicide. The social media movement depicted above is a step in the right direction, as it showcases men of all ages, races, and ethnicity, and shows that its okay for men to tell others how they feel, and in doing so, can save not only their own life, but inspire many other men to save theirs as well. A little conversation goes a long way in the treatment of depression and suicidal ideation.
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Post by Dan Nguyen MS3 on Sept 2, 2016 9:50:29 GMT -4
I am pretty sure that my girlfriend is the leader of this movement because she is always trying to get me to talk about my feelings. On a serious note though, I think it is important for men to feel open to talking and seeking help. The expectation of men to be strong and not show emotion is a dangerous notion. The article mentions that the rate of suicide is increasing, and if this movement can start the conversation to allow men to be open to seeking help I am all for it. I often wonder how effective these movements on social media are. It would be interesting to see a study looking into the effects and impact of these movements.
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Post by Geoffrey MS3 on Sept 2, 2016 14:20:53 GMT -4
As the article states masculinity is one of the major factors in male suicidal incidence. This issue has been a huge deal when in fact it is something that can be easily addressed. In U.S more than in other countries the term masculinity is being perceived in a wrong way. Masculinity is when a man knows what he wants and works towards achieving it. The society and the media has portrayed this in the wrong way. Now that the same media has come up to open up the subject is a great deal for all the men who has been living in their cocoons. Because it is okay to speak up and thats what masculinity is all about. Human beings, men in general have the tendency to act only when its late, its like a trash can its better to empty it in a timely fashion than to make it overflow but its never to late.
-Geoffrey MS3
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Aniruddha Gollapalli MS3
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Post by Aniruddha Gollapalli MS3 on Sept 2, 2016 16:27:11 GMT -4
It's good to see that social media can sometimes be used for good things and not just sharing cat videos. I think there is a definite stigma in terms of men talking about needing mental help, especially help with suicidal thoughts and ideations. We've been told that to be man is to not need help from others, whether it is to fix something around the house or even ask for directions. While the other two scenarios are relatively minor inconveniences and can even be considered funny, the fact that men feel like they can't seek help when dealing with these emotions is something we need to fix. With the rates of suicide increasing, I think it is crucial that we spread this message. On top of movements such as this, I believe we need to start early and tell children around the country that it is ok to ask for help or talk about something that might be bothering them.
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Post by Madhav Shyam MS3 on Sept 4, 2016 14:00:55 GMT -4
This is a hashtag that creates conversation for an existing issue, suicide is by far the one of the worst outcomes of mental illnesses. When we can address suicides in males, we can find ways to tackle the depression facing men in today's world. Society creates a lot of pressure on people to live up to a certain measure of success, this generation of men are finding it difficult to adapt to roles that aren't built into our genes. There's no satisfaction of a "hunt" in the majority of the jobs that men have available now, there's no "test" of conflict now that less of us are warring with our neighbours, men still have genes to copulate and expand their genetic line constantly, which after suffering break ups/ divorces causes a significant dulling of mood. These aren't very exciting times, we rarely have to fight to get access to anything, at least in the West. When men are bored, feeling their abilities are not being used at their potential, men are dangerous and hurtful to themselves. Its why we watch sports, and we become passionate fans very easily. I would encourage people to live active lives and pursue new levels of improvement, its in our genes, and it guarantees survival like it always has.
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Post by Titiksha Sharma on Sept 6, 2016 21:33:43 GMT -4
Emotion has it's own gender based classification in our society.Anger is considered a masculine emotion where as fear and sadness are considered feminine emotions.As they are growing up boys are taught to accept masculine emotion and reject feminine emotion.By the time they reach adulthood men are much more emotionally restricted than women.While they feel equally emotional on the inside, they hide it because they think it's not appropriate or acceptable to display their feelings.They cannot open up about their emotional struggles,grief and anxiety which addup to their mental vulnerability. The social media movement can be a really powerful tool to change the perception of men towards emotion.It can enable them to share their mental health struggles,making them realize that exhibiting emotion can actually be liberating and that there is nothing to be ashamed about it.As the article rightly puts it,it's absolutely "okay to talk".
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