Messages About Being a Man

As men, we often get a lot of strong messages about how to be male.

"Be strong."  "Suck it up."  "Don't be a whiner."  "Don't be a burden."  "Don't be weak."  "Don't show emotions."

While there is nothing wrong with strength, resilience, and perseverence, these messages can impede our willingness or ability to get help when we need it. Maintaining these ideals of masculinity can be stressful, leading many men to hide their true selves or suffer in silence. These messages also intersect with our other identities and parts of our culture, which can add adiditonal stress, particularly if we feel we can't meet those ideals.

Impact 

Research shows that these experiences can adversely impact men. Physical and mental health are hindered; suicide rates among men are higher; men are less likely to report sexual abuse/assault; and men often suffer in silence, leading to substance abuse, worsening symptoms, or difficulties in relationships.

Resources

The good news is that there are many campus resources to support men's mental health and well-being. If a male-identified student would like to seek counseling, it's important to know that counseling can be useful. Mental health issues like depression and anxiety are treatable illnesses. Counseling is effective even if there are no "symptoms." Getting guidance and consultation in times of transition is helpful, and regardless of the reason for counseling, it can help you feel happier, healthier, and more productive.

About Counseling 

Counseling for MSU students at CPS is free and confidential. Each year CPS sees about 2,000 students, about half of whom are men/male-identified. Common issues men discuss in therapy inclulde depression, anxiety, substance use, acadmic/career development, pornogrphy use, identity, sexuality, relationships, past sexual trauma, eating/body image issues, and really anything a student may want to gain deeper insight or support around.

Our staff is comprised of licensed mental health providers and supervised providers finishing the requirements for their degree/license. Many of us have interest, training, and expertise in working with men/male-identified students. 

Counseling will begin with an intake meeting to learn more about you and what services you're looking for. From there you'll get matched up with your regular on-going counselor, and you can work collaboratively to establish your goals for counseling. Counseling can focus on pretty much anything you'd like, and you always have a say in the direction of your work.

To make a first-time appointment, you can call us at 406-994-4531 or use the online scheduling feature on our main page. 

Whether it's counseling or any other resources on campus, we hope you feel comfortable getting any support you might need to be personally, professionally, and academically successful.

Seminars & Programming for Men

If your student club, team, organization, or chapter would like programming aound men's mental health or wellbeing, feel free to reach out to the CPS Outreach team to schedule a meeting. Topics include:

Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, Sexual Health, Pornography Use, Substance Use, Eating/Body Image, Male Survivors of Sexual Assault/Abuse, Stress Management; or other topics that may be of interest to your group. 

Suicide

If you are in crisis or have suicidal thoughts, please call or come to CPS, 3rd Floor of the Wellness Center, or call 988 after hours. If you are worried about someone who may have suicidal thoughts, call 911 if it's an emergency, or visit MSU Assist to learn more ways to help a friend. If you're interested in getting more training around mental health issues and suicide prevention, visit our Prevention Programming Page.