Men’s Mental Wellness - Combatting Loneliness

Loneliness is widespread amongst men in Canada, as men have been shown to have greater difficulty reaching out and maintaining friendships than women. This is largely due to societal pressures on men being perceived as “unmanly” for reaching out.

This is especially concerning for younger male adults right now due to restrictions from COVID-19, as many social networks and facilities, such as schools, have been moved to online platforms. COVID-19 has impacted a lot of friendships for men by making it more difficult to interact and hang out with each other; however, social bonds are essential for men’s health. Research has shown that men with more friendships experience an array of health benefits. These include having a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, and decreased anxiety from endorphin release. In fact, men with more friendships can even live up to 22% longer!

Loneliness is not just a negative mindset - it can increase stress hormones and weaken our immune systems. In fact, it has been shown that effects of prolonged loneliness can be as bad for you as smoking and obesity.

Fortunately, gratitude practices can help. Gratitude has been shown to increase people’s sense of social connection, which in turn increases positive emotional responses, improved health, and increased resiliency. These benefits can then be used to build and nurture strong and lasting relationships.

One of the gratitude practices we introduced this month was to reach out to a man you haven’t spoken to in awhile and ask them how they are doing. We suggested using open-ended questions to open up the conversation, such as “how have you been?”, followed by more open ended questions to encourage conversation.

These small gestures of gratitude can make a huge impact for both you and your friends or loved ones! To keep track of your gratitude goals any time, check out our gratitude journal in the previous blog post.

Additionally, a massive thank-you to the UBCO Nursing team for their amazing research and dedication to the gratitude project for this blog!

Here are some sources that support the information in this blog post if you are interested in further reading:

https://ca.movember.com/story/view/id/12312/social-connections-challenge-launching-with-aim-to-support-men-experiencing-isolation-and-loneliness-in-2020-and-beyond

https://www.redcross.org.uk/-/media/documents/about-us/research-publications/health-and-social-care/co-op-isolation-loneliness-overview.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4873114/

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/04/29/cheers-men-need-to-drink-with-friends-twice-a-week-to-stay-healthy-study-finds/

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/men-bad-friendship-harms-health#Why-is-this-a-big-deal?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4873114/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier