Health2 min
International Men's Day: Why Indian Men Struggle to Say 'I'm Not Okay'
As November's men's health campaigns peak, a viewpoint argues that India's rigid ideas of manhood leave many men without the words or permission to ask for help.
As International Men's Day arrives on November 19, a viewpoint piece in Rising Kashmir argues that India's men's health conversation has a blind spot. Checkups, screenings and lifestyle advice get the attention. Men's emotional well-being, the writer says, deserves equal billing, if not more.
The argument starts in childhood. Boys in many Indian homes learn early not to cry, complain or show fear, the piece says. Toughness earns praise, comfort-seeking invites teasing, and responsibility often arrives before a boy understands his own feelings. Many men grow up without the vocabulary, or the social permission, to talk about what hurts.
The feelings do not vanish, the writer contends. They change shape. Sadness can come out as irritability, and fear can pass for control. Loneliness can push a man toward overwork, endless screen time, alcohol or other ways of tuning out. The piece links this pattern to what it sees as growing anger, online hostility and strained relationships across Indian society. It is careful to say men's mental health cannot explain all of that.
Then comes the pressure of the provider role. The ideal Indian man, as the piece describes him, is the dependable father, the financially secure husband, the dutiful son. There is little room in that picture for a man who is exhausted, unemployed, heartbroken or lost. Rising living costs and unstable careers add weight. A job loss can feel like lost dignity, a failed business like failed manhood, a separation like an attack on identity.
The piece also points to hard numbers. It cites the National Crime Records Bureau's Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 report, which records 1,70,746 suicides nationwide, with men making up 73.5 per cent of them.
Why does this matter beyond one awareness day? The writer's core point is that silence is not strength. When a culture rewards men for hiding distress, trouble tends to surface late, at home, at work or online. Making it normal for men to name exhaustion, fear or loneliness early, with family, friends or a professional, is one of the simplest changes the piece suggests.
Read the full viewpoint at Rising Kashmir.
