The stigma of “being a man” has been around for generations and instilled into men the way they should behave. This includes hiding their emotions or covering them up with dangerous behaviors. One of the dangerous behaviors they may take part in includes substance use. Substance use can take over and ruin your life, which causes you to want to keep using to suppress the negative feelings associated with using. It becomes an endless cycle of substance use, negative feelings, substance use… Spero Recovery wants to help you break this cycle. We want to teach you how to recognize, understand, and express your emotions.
The Stigma of “Being a Man”
Men have been taught that they need to avoid anything that could be constituted as feminine or girly. If you did happen to partake in something that was, then you would be ridiculed or punished for not being manly enough. This includes things such as showing emotions and seeking help, especially for health-related problems.
This stigma of being a man means that men aren’t learning how to recognize and understand what they are feeling, so they are unable to express themselves in a healthy way. Suppressing your emotions constantly can lead to increased stress, anxiety, outbursts, and reckless behavior such as substance use. It can lead to co-occurring mental and physical health conditions that when left untreated can negatively impact your life and wellbeing.
Why Do Men Hide Their Emotions?
Men often hide their emotions due to societal expectations and cultural norms that equate emotional expression with weakness. From a young age, many boys are socialized to believe that showing vulnerability or discussing feelings is not masculine, leading them to suppress their emotions to fit into these traditional gender roles. Additionally, there is often a fear of judgment or rejection, both from peers and from themselves, as expressing emotions can be perceived as losing control. This emotional suppression can be reinforced by media portrayals of stoic, unemotional male figures, creating a cycle where men feel compelled to hide their true feelings to conform to perceived societal standards.
How Can Men Hiding Their Emotions Be Harmful?
Hiding your emotions can cause mental and physical illness. When left untreated these health conditions can negatively impact your life. Some ways that men hiding their emotions can be harmful include:
- Increased stress, anxiety, and depression levels.
- Greater probability of substance use and substance use disorder (SUD).
- Trouble with communication and forming long-term relationships.
- Overreactions and outbursts to situations because they don’t know how to express themselves.
- Financial, social, and relationship problems due to utilizing substance use as a coping mechanism.
- Higher heart rate, blood pressure, and pain.
- Lowered self-esteem and self-confidence.
The consequences of suppressing your emotions can lead to more negative feelings about your situation and yourself. In turn, you will resort to your unhealthy coping mechanisms to combat them. It is a never-ending cycle unless you decide to stop it. You have to make the decision to go against what has been instilled in you and change your thinking process. It will be hard, but reaching out for help is the first step to bettering your life.
Spero Recovery Can Stop Men From Hiding Their Emotions
We are a residential SUD treatment facility that prides itself on providing effective and affordable care. Through the use of grants and donations, we are able to keep our costs below the national average. This makes us a perfect match for all economic statuses, under and uninsured individuals.
Our recovery programs are based on the ideas of 12-Step programs. They focus on community, abstinence, self-evaluation, and coming to terms that SUD is an uncontrollable mental health illness that you need help to cope with. The goal of our programs is to teach you healthy ways of coping with your SUD, provide a sober community for you to heal in, and build your confidence to stay sober when you enter sober living or back into the world.
Men’s Recovery Program
The recovery programs are split between men and women. We understand that there are unique needs to be met for each gender and want to ensure everyone is having their needs met through the program. Our men’s recovery program emphasizes overcoming the idea of “being a man” and stops them from hiding their emotions.
Through the use of community and experiential treatment, we work to change your thought processes. Changing the way you think is difficult but necessary to help men stop hiding their emotions. You need to learn that feeling and expressing your feelings is a part of life.
Community
You are put into a sober community setting that promotes support, growth, and reaching long-term sobriety. Being surrounded by others that have gone through similar experiences and are working towards the same goals helps provide motivation and a sense of belonging. There are always unbiased people for you to lean on.
This setting also gives you the chance to see other men expressing themselves and showing vulnerability. Witnessing this can help you feel more comfortable in doing so and teach you that it is ok to feel.
Alumni are brought back to run out experiential treatment sessions. They represent the image of a healthy thriving sober male. You can see that success is attainable, which helps motivate you in the program. It allows them the chance to connect with others on their recovery journey, give back to their community, and find a sense of purpose.
Experiential Treatment
The use of new activities in SUD treatment is called experiential treatment. Our alumni come back to help run sessions such as woodworking, cooking classes, hiking, rock climbing, and meditation.
Meditation is useful because it helps connect the mind and body. You can use it to perform self-evaluations that help you figure out what you are feeling. It can help you work through problems and respond appropriately to them.
Men have been taught that “being a man” means you are not allowed to show emotion or seek out help because it is a sign of weakness. Suppressing your emotions can lead to reckless behavior and mental health illness, like substance use disorder. It can become an endless cycle of substance use to cope with your emotions. This substance use can alter your life, which can lead to feeling more emotions and more substance use. If you feel like you are struggling to break the cycle of using substances to suppress your emotions, reach out to Spero Recovery at (303) 351-7888 for more information today. We understand the difficulty that comes from overturning an idea you’ve had your entire life.
