A Google search about men and health steers researchers and readers to articles about the lonely man and topics about loneliness and depression among men.

Countries recently observed World Mental Health Day on October 10, and national depression and mental screening month is also being observed in the US at this time.

Psychologist Ronald John believes the issue does not only affect other countries but described it as a growing problem in Trinidad and Tobago. Women, he said, tended to be more receptive and in tune with their feelings.

This was not the same for men and it was, therefore, harder for them to identify what they were feeling other than they were feeling down, low or disconnected, and many did not want to label that as loneliness.

[caption id="attachment_1040663" align="alignnone" width="467"] Psychologist Ronald John -[/caption]

An article by Business Insider this year quoted a 2022 Pew Research Centre survey which found that 60 per cent of young men in the US were single, nearly double the rate of women. The article also said men were less likely to go to therapy and work on whatever might be holding them back from connecting with others.

In John’s practice – while he did not have statistics – he said, anecdotally, in any given workshop he hosts, if there are 12 people, eight of them men, there were at least three who spoke about experiencing deep loneliness in a way that almost borders on depression.

The rise of “male loneliness” did not only lead to higher rates of men dying by suicide but also other illnesses like diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol, John said.

It is something TT’s health authorities need to pay more attention to, he added.

While he does not think a specific system is needed to address men’s mental health issues, John thinks TT’s wellness centres and clinics should be expanded to include more education around male loneliness. These expanded services should also include strategies, workshops and group work on the topic.

He added that TT has a number of well-thought-out wellness centres but they were limited in what they can do.

“That does not preclude us having a male loneliness day or male loneliness week to call attention to it, to call attention to the seriousness of it, to call attention to the fact that men need to wake up to this debilitating mental illness…

“I do a lot of personal growth work and because of the depths of the work that I go into, I see men being able to identify this loneliness. They can easily identify the first piece which is maybe they are physically alone but it is harder for them to identify that they are unproductive or suffering from negative thoughts or they are unable to relate to the fact that they are ill frequently and that is a symptom of their loneliness, ” John said.

The system also needed competent people and not just psychologists or psychiatrists, he said.

“Every psychologist or every psychiatrist isn’t trained in every single thing. I am a psychologist but I have done extensive work in relationship therapy, dep