Mental health issues have been on the rise in recent years and many of us have started developing problems such as anxiety, chronic stress, and even depression. Men have an added amount of pressure as gendered ideals dictate them to keep their emotions in, which leads them to not seek help for their mental health issues. 

Every day in the UK two men commit suicide. This is because they can’t seek help for their issues and suppress their emotions. Regardless of your gender, we all face problems in life that shape us into who we are. But is our adversity our only identity?

The many layers of mental health issues

Many of us are not even completely aware of how our situations are affecting us. We use coping mechanisms to suppress emotions such as overeating, overexerting ourselves to the point of burnout, partying too much and many other things. 

Such coping mechanisms are only temporary and after a while, the real emotions come to the surface that we have to deal with in a healthy manner if we want to continue to change our lives in a positive way. 

Our mental health problems manifest themselves in physical symptoms such as fatigue, emptiness and feeling miserable all the time when they are not dealt with. It can even lead to chronically being sick. 

Seeking help and finding healthy ways to deal with it is very important to be mentally fit. Our mental state affects our experiences of life and no one should suffer.

How to overcome adversity

The brain is a powerful tool and issues such as depression and anxiety make it age faster. If you center your identity on your adversity then your only power comes from pity. 

What we don’t realize is that we are the creator of our stories and we are the main character. We can turn things around as this is our story. We can create a new identity, one that is not centered on our adversity but around the overcoming of adversity. 

You can change the narrative anytime. While our experiences, both good and bad make us who we are. We can train our mind to become the best possible version of ourselves. Pain is the most important teacher of all and it is up to you to let it make you or break you.

Focus on what’s important

We often forget that happiness is a choice and what we choose to invest our time in, ends up being our reality. This is why it is so important to prioritize and make conscious choices of the life you want to lead. 

Spend time in nature, with family, stop glorifying idols and turn your passions into purpose. Everything in life is a learning experience and what we take away from an experience is up to us.

You can either let your pain drive you down an endless dark pit or you can turn that pain into something meaningful. We get only one life and what we make of it is up to us!