70- Special edition 2 : Mental health awareness month (17) -Misconceptions 2

As I continued perusing vlogs from MHW2K16, I noticed that several women had unintentionally opened the door to a misconception that does occur and could worsen. I'm speaking about the fact that it is believed that mental illness affects more women than men.



There are some issues which relate mostly to women, yes, but men can also suffer from a number of mental illnesses and I think it's important to remind also that men suffer from the societal stigma relating to the definition of masculinity and the absolute need to conceal one's sensitivities and feelings, deemed as flaws in men and expected in women.

That is a possible reason why it's so much easier to find women who vlog about their experiences and difficulties with mental health, whilst very few men dare to share so much about themselves.

I saw that many men prefer to hide their faces or use animations instead of appearing with their faces.
Some men, however, started to also show themselves and talk openly about their own issues and I think that's really a positive step in the right direction.

Before asking me why I don't dare to break the taboos and create my own channel, I'll reply to this right now:
I don't have the courage, not because i'm a guy, but because of my personal issues : posttraumatic stress, fears of being found by my abuser are still quite strong, aversion in regards to how I perceive my voice in videos and hating to be filmed as a consequence.

My personal self expression and online social media tool, at least for the time being, is this blog.
If I ever get to the point where I feel more confortable with creating a channel, I will do it, but that would represent a tremendous achievement that I don't currently feel ready for.

Until such a day, #Iamstigmafree even though I don't vlog. I try to spread more awareness about my own issues, first to my friends, and hope that this blog will receive more readers and create a bridge and social nets, because in spite of my social phobias, I have needs to socialize and share - and give my 2 cents opinions, just about anything.