November is men’s health awareness month, and the numbers behind it are stark. Men in the United States die by suicide at nearly four times the rate of women — 22.3 deaths per 100,000 men compared with 5.6 per 100,000 women in 2024 (CDC). Nearly 1 in 5 men lives with a mental health condition in any given year (NIMH). More than 6 million men experience depression each year, and fewer than half get treatment (ADAA).
Those are not just statistics. They are fathers, brothers, sons, friends, and coworkers — men who were struggling and did not get help in time. The question is why.
“Strong Doesn’t Mean Silent”
Most men are raised with a simple rule: handle it yourself. Do not complain. Do not cry. Do not be a burden. Strength gets defined as silence, and asking for help gets defined as weakness.
That rule is killing men. It keeps them from telling anyone they are struggling until the struggle becomes a crisis. It turns treatable conditions — depression, anxiety, substance use — into emergencies. And it isolates men from the very people who would help them if they knew.
The truth is the opposite of the rule: asking for help is strength. It takes more courage to say “I’m not okay” than to keep carrying it alone. The men who ask for help are not the weak ones. They are the ones who get to keep going.
Why Men Wait
Men delay care for reasons that make sense once you hear them. Many do not recognize what they are feeling as depression or anxiety — because in men, depression often does not look like sadness. It looks like irritability, anger, exhaustion, drinking more, sleeping badly, or throwing themselves into work. Many assume therapy is not for them, or worry about what others will think. Some have tried to open up before and been met with “man up” or a joke. And many simply do not know where to start.
Cost and time matter too — but less than most men think. Most insurance plans in Idaho cover mental health care, Medicaid is welcome, and telehealth means a session can fit into a lunch break from anywhere in the state.
What Changes When a Man Asks
Treatment works. Counseling helps men understand what they are feeling, build practical ways to handle it, and break patterns that have been running their lives for years. For some men, that is a few months of work. For others, it is longer. Either way, it beats the alternative — and the men who go through it almost always say the same thing: “I wish I had done this sooner.”
Asking for help also changes the men around you. When one man says he is in therapy, it gives every other man in his life permission to say it too.
How to Get Started
A Body & Mind Health Services is here for men across Idaho — counseling, CBRS, case management, and peer support in Boise, Middleton, Twin Falls, Moscow, and Kamiah, plus telehealth statewide. We accept most insurance plans in Idaho, and Medicaid is welcome. We are now welcoming new clients, and we currently have openings.
Call 208-683-8320 or visit the Get Started page at abmhealthservices.com. Strong doesn’t mean silent. Save a bro, grow a Mo.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time, day or night. You can also text HOME to 741741.