With international men’s wellness day in November and with Movember coming to an end, it’s time to look at men’s well-being.

We provide our partners with a monthly magazine that looks at a topic working with The Four Elements of Eat, Sweat, Think and Connect.

This snapshot looks at how men live with the Think Element:

Think about your actions and reactions

It’s well-discussed that men can generally internalise problems, not communicate well or find it difficult to open up. But that makes an initial assumption that a man has already identified his feelings, that they may be depression, and that he wants to change. Sometimes we can be experiencing anxiety, depression and mental imbalance without realising it.

Just as you strategise your work, have kick off meetings, check-ins, touchpoints and feedback, give your well-being and state of mind its own plan of action. Stop and assess. Have you been quick to snap at others and lose your temper easily? Do you take small risks for no reason, such as when driving? Do you use your work or something else as an excuse to escape the voice in your head?

Look at your outward behaviour in the last week and consider what’s happening inside that made it so.

Are you backing yourself into a mental corner?

Have you given yourself labels? Have you made assumptions about who you are and what you like? When there’s pressure or competition, it’s common to let the adrenaline and testosterone come together and launch you forward, wanting to win. But what does winning mean? Do you really even care about the result?

In well-being we talk about mindfulness, which can sometimes boil down to what we were told as kids when you get angry: count to ten. When you have time alone – maybe when going for a walk – ask yourself what is it you really want?

Where can you find time?

So take time off! Finding solace in work, feeling pressure to keep succeeding, being a provider – men can see work as a safe place to retreat to. If you’re working, then you can say you don’t have time for anything else and people won’t blame you for it. ‘I’m supposed to work’, you think to yourself.

But not taking time off can firstly be counter-productive to your work itself, and importantly doesn’t let you think about what you’re experiencing, how you’re feeling.

The Science

“In the beginning, many of us were grateful to have a job. But six months of working from home is causing burnout and hurting work-life balance. More than ever, you need time off to take care of your mental wellbeing. It has a significant impact on productivity and creativity.”
This article looks at the psychology of men and how it differs to women – and what that means. One of the points is “the real challenge for most men in today’s society is to understand the truth of his essential nature and then to vanquish whatever fears would prevent him from acting in accordance with that.“

Male depression is a serious medical condition, but many men try to ignore it or refuse treatment. Learn the signs and symptoms — and what to do.