Okay, first an admission, I wrongly believed that Movember was beard growing, not just mustaches. But that is because I confused it with another men's health meme, part of the same Movember fund-raising effort, No Shave November. There's also Novembeard.
If you can grow it, let it grow! It's for a good cause (or causes).
Why Is This Important? Because too many men suffer from mental illness and they could use a helping hand. Long Story Short This year, donations from guys who grow out their ‘stache for Movember will go towards fundraising and raising awareness about male mental health in addition to prostate and testicular cancers. Long Story The hairy truth is that too many men suffer from mental illness. According to data released on Movember’s website, a total of 38,364 Americans died by suicide in 2010 and over three quarters of them (79%) were men. To make matters worse, men aren’t talking about it. According to researchers in the UK, almost a third of men are too embarrassed to seek help for a mental problem and less than a quarter talk to their doctor if they felt down for more than two weeks in comparison to a third of women. Justin Coughlan, the Australian co-founder of Movember told the BBC that this is a huge issue men need to combat. “It’s the last piece of the puzzle,” he said. “It’s just so big and there’s such a need for it.” For the 11 years since it began in 2003, the month-long campaign has asked men to grow out their moustaches for charity and awareness about prostate cancer and then testicular cancer. This year, men’s mental illness will be added to the list. It’s hard to think of too many other annual charity campaigns that have caught on as well as Movember. Every year, millions of “Mos” can be found on street corners and in offices worldwide and the charity’s success is undeniable. Well over four million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas have registered to fundraise since the charity began and $559 million has been raised. Immeasurable is the amount of conversations people have had about men’s mental health and in the case of prostate cancer, how many have gotten checked. According to Movember, 75% of those who participate were more aware of the health risks they face and 50% told someone they should take action to improve their health. If you haven’t done Movember before, all you need to do is have a fresh shave at the beginning of the month (you’re a little late, but today will do) and sign up for an account. Then, try and get funds to support your Mo and talk about men’s health. Easy peasy. The stigma about mental illness, especially for men is something that absolutely needs to go, and if Movember can help take it down it will be doing a great service to men everywhere.
Own The Conversation
Ask The Big Question: Will you be growing your mustache out for Movember this year?
Disrupt Your Feed: Are there more worthy causes that Movember could be supporting?
Drop This Fact: Around 15 million American adults are diagnosed with depression each year.
Expand Your Expertise
Movember founder: Men can end up 'mentally broken' [BBC]
A Spectator's Guide to Movember and No Shave November [Boston.com]
What is your purpose in life? Your passion. Your bliss. Your calling … Whatever you call it, we’re all searching for it to some extent. Mastin Kipp’s words sum it up for me: “Your bliss and your purpose are the same thing.” If finding your north star is an elusive task, then perhaps taking a scientific approach to defining and measuring "purpose" might work as a discovery strategy. Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist who specializes in Alzheimer's research defines "purpose in life" as: “the psychological tendency to derive meaning from life’s experiences and to possess a sense of intentionality and goal directedness that guides behavior.” To measure purpose in life, researchers from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago asked over 900 older folks living in residential communities to rate their level of agreement from 1 to 5, to each of the following statements:
I feel good when I think of what I have done in the past and what I hope to do in the future.
I live life one day at a time and do not really think about the future.
I tend to focus on the present because the future nearly always brings me problems.
I have a sense of direction and purpose in life.
My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me.
I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a waste of time.
I enjoy making plans for the future and working them to a reality.
I am an active person in carrying out the plans I set for myself.
Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.
I sometimes feel as if I have done all there is to do in life.
The researchers found that a high purpose in life score was linked to many positive health outcomes including:
Better mental health
Less depression
Happiness
Satisfaction
Personal growth, self-acceptance
Better sleep
Longevity
Startlingly, in the seven years of the study, 155 of 951 people developed Alzheimer’s disease. A more detailed analysis showed that those folks with high purpose in life scores had:
Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Less mild cognitive impairment
Slower rate of cognitive decline in old age
Explaining her findings to Science Daily, Patricia Boyle explained: "Somehow, having a purpose allows people to cope with the physical signs of Alzheimer's disease." So what might be is the biological basis linking purpose and passion with brain health? The researchers in this study weren’t 100% sure, but neuroscience tells us that a lack of purpose in life is associated with the follower indicators of poor health:
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol
Markers of inflammation
Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (the "good" cholesterol)
Abdominal fat
We know these factors probably combine to diminish the brain’s resilience to degeneration and aging. Brain resilience is also referred to as "brain reserve"—its ability to cope with increasing damage while still functioning adequately. So, if you’re still searching, neuroscience might just be able provide some pretty compelling evidence about why you should foster your purpose and passions. And maybe thinking about the questions posed to the older folks might just guide you to your north star. If you're totally lost when it comes to your purpose, this piece may offer some pointers.
Danny Baker offers an important post on the myths of mental illness over at the Good Men Project. For a lot of us, especially readers of this blog, these are common sense and we know better - but there are a lot of people who hold these beliefs or variations of them, especially men (it's weak to ask for health, we should just get over it, and so on).
From the belief that mental illness doesn’t exist to being able to just “get over it,” Danny Baker lists 13 myths surrounding mental illness that can hinder recovery.
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In no particular order, here are 13 of the most widespread myths surrounding mental illness in the 21st century.
Mental illness doesn’t exist. Just because mental illnesses are invisible on the surface, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t real. We can’t see gravity, either – does that mean that that’s made up? Furthermore, through various brain image technology, it’s actually now possible to observe differences in the brain between people with certain mental illnesses and people without them.
Mental illness is rare. On the contrary, approximately 1 in 4 people suffer from a mental illness.
You don’t know anyone with a mental illness. Again, since mental illness affects 1 in 4, then unless you live by yourself on a raft in the middle of the ocean, then it’s almost certain that you do.
If you have a mental illness, then it means you’re crazy. No! If you have a mental illness, then all it means is that you have a mental illness – a condition that can be treated just like physical illnesses can.
Mental illnesses are lifelong and impossible to treat. I kind of gave the truth away in myth 4, but it’s worth emphasizing: treatments today are more refined than ever before, and as a result, most mental illnesses are able to be recovered from, or at the very least managed.
If someone has a mental illness, than they’re to blame for it. While I do believe that sufferers need to take responsibility for their illness and be proactive in trying to recover, it’s critical to note that absolutely anyone can fall victim to a mental illness. Mental illnesses tend to be caused by a combination of genetics, brain chemical imbalances, psychological trauma and environmental stresses; since so much of this is out of a person’s control, then blaming them for developing a mental illness is extremely unfair.
Only people who are weak ask for help. It’s really the complete opposite – it takes self-awareness to admit that you have a problem, and given the stigma surrounding mental illness, it takes a lot of courage to ask for support. And on a more fundamental level, seeking help is just the smart, logical thing to do. Just like physical illnesses, mental illnesses require treatment in order for the sufferer to recover – so if you want to get better and return to living a healthy life, then you have to get help. Otherwise your illness will always impair you.
People with a mental illness can “just get over it”. Again, mental illnesses are illnesses. You can’t “just get over them”, in the same way you just can’t get over a physical illness like cancer.
People with a mental illness are violent. This is nonsense perpetrated by the media and television shows. Numerous studies have shown this to be blatantly untrue. For example in the US, a nationwide study by NIMH showed that only 4% of violent crimes are committed by people with a diagnosed mental illness. Additionally, the study showed that people with a mental illness are 11 times more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than the general population.
People with a mental illness are incompetent. Because mental illnesses are treatable, then most sufferers who are getting help are able to work and live productive lives. In fact, it’s well known that depression rates are particularly high in the legal profession, which is proof that people with a mental illness can still be extremely high functioning. Furthermore, since mental illness affects 1 in 4 people, chances are that you work with one or multiple sufferers, even if you don’t know it.
Mental illnesses don’t affect teenagers – any problems they’re experiencing is just part of going through puberty. Granted that one’s adolescent years tend to be more of a roller coaster than most, but it’s ludicrous to assume that this is the root of all their problems and that it’s impossible for them to suffer from a mental illness. In fact, studies show that across Australia, the UK and the US, as many as 1 in 5 teens will experience depression before they reach adulthood – and that’s just one of a myriad of mental illnesses.
People with a mental illness – particular those suffering from depression – are attention seekers or drama queens. In fact, it’s usually the opposite, which is why the majority of sufferers hide their pain with a smile, and why their most common response to “how are you” is “I’m fine”.
I can’t do anything for someone with a mental illness. While it’s true that you can’t snap your fingers and make them recover, you can help immensely by being a good friend – by doing your best to understand them instead of judging them, by showing them respect, by listening to them when they need someone to talk to, and by putting your arm around them when they need your support.
What are some of the other mental illness myths you’ve heard? If you suffer from a mental illness, what are some you’ve heard that are specific to that particular illness?
Men are stereotypically bad at seeking help for mental health issues - although that is changing with the younger generation of men who have grown up with one or both parents in therapy, and quite possibly having been sent to therapists by their parents at some point.
As men, we need to support each other in being able to discuss mental health issues. This article from the Good Men Project makes that point.
As much as we need to be aware of our own mental health, however, and any possible issues in that realm, it is our responsibility to also be aware of how the male friends and family in our lives are doing emotionally or psychologically.
Hell, it's not about supporting each other as men - it's about supporting each other as human beings.
Conrad Liveris wants to make sure he is there for other men who are suffering from mental health issues.
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Earlier this year a close friend came to me and started to discuss his mental health. This was pretty out of the ordinary: we typically discuss work, business, ambitions and where we’re going out. I’ve always been aware of my own mental health, having a strong understanding can help me understand my own capacity and what I can give to my employers, family and communities. My friend’s conversation helped me realise that being conscious of my mental health meant that I had to conscious of those around me too. It was a big deal for him to open up and say “yeah, I’ve got depression and I’m seeing a psychologist at least every fortnight”. In the months prior I had started seeing less of him and generally felt that his energy levels were low. He was not the man I had known. It started making me very reflective: who was there for me when I was down? Or were these battles I had to struggle through myself? I realised that it actually didn’t matter so much who I turned to, as long it was someone I could trust. Mental health is an issue at both ends of the age spectrum: depression is the leading cause of death for Gen Y men, and there are a growing number of Baby Boomers being treated for depression or anxiety. The root-causes might be different, but the impacts on our social and professional lives are the same: it can be under-performance or general unhappiness. This is an intergenerational crisis that is making a big impact. Mental health costs the US economy US $57.5 billion each year, similar to the cost of cancer, and in Australia it is A$20 billion with 45% of all Australian’s between 16 and 85 suffering from anxiety, mood or a substance disorder. We all know men can have issues with discussing these issues and feelings, but it’s about being there for each other. The onus isn’t always going to be on the one suffering, but on the man standing beside him. We all have a part to play when we realise that all is not well. Men need to be able to stand up and be a strong voice in these discussions. Not just for ourselves—it will help how our children look at mental illness. It isn’t about calling out weaknesses or issues with someone, but about being there for those in need. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask, or hear the answer, when we ask those closest to us, “how are you? Is everything alright?”
It's an act of bravery for a soldier to thank his therapist when accepting a Congressional Medal of Honor, but in an era where more men die of their own hand than die in battle, it is a necessary and laudable act. He is strong enough to admit that war and seeing friends die has had an incredible impact on his mental health, that he is emotionally scarred by what he has witnessed.
Wonderful to see the wall of silence being taken down by a man recognized as a hero.
Staff Sgt. Ty Carter speaking at a ceremony awarding him the Congressional Medal of Honor. (PHOTO: YOUTUBE)
August 27, 2013 • By Marc Herman The video below, from Stars and Stripes, shows Staff Sgt. Ty Carter’s speech at a ceremony awarding him the Congressional Medal of Honor yesterday. Carter, one of only five living recipients of the medal who fought in post 9/11 conflicts, was cited for his actions during a battle in Afghanistan in which he attempted to rescue a fellow soldier, Spc Stephan Mace. Carter pulled Mace to safety and treated him amid a 12-hour-long battle. Mace, wounded grievously, eventually died.* Carter’s speech is notably different from the popular image of a war hero receiving a medal. In lieu of crisp salutes and talk of duty, Carter spends much of his time speaking about loss, and frankly discussing his own mental health after the ordeal. To be clear, Staff Sgt. Carter appears to be a person of extraordinary mettle. In his presentation, however, he does not mind projecting another image, of a young man who has seen too many terrible things. Speaking in what can only be called a tone of vulnerability, he tells the White House audience, including President Obama:
Only those closest to me can see the scars that come from seeing good men take their last breath. During the battle, I lost some of the hearing in my left ear. But I will always hear the voice of Specialist Stephan Mace. I will hear his plea for help for the rest of my life.
He goes on to talk about how he recovered from the experience.
However, thanks to the professionalism of my platoon Sgt, Sgt Hill, and my behavioral health provider, Capt. Cobb, and my friends and family, I will heal.
“Behavioral health” is a synonym for mental health. A “behavioral health provider” is a therapist. In a ceremony traditionally designed to showcase bravery in battle, Carter is taking the extraordinary step of focusing on how he, the classic American war hero, came home from Afghanistan with his head in a bad place. He goes on to speak of anguished families of the soldiers lost in the same violent battle for which he received the medal. President Obama also remarks on the mental health issue. Certainly what the video below displays is a cultural shift, from the 1940s image of the hard-bitten GI, to the modern, human hero like Carter. It’s also tempting to read the focus of this week’s ceremony as a tacit pushback against an emerging skepticism about war’s role in a wave of military suicides over the past half-decade-plus. Coincidentally, two weeks ago a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association claimed that military deployments were not to blame for the widely-reported rise in suicides among service members since 2005. The study, which has sparked intense debate, found ”suicide risk was independently associated with male sex and mental disorders but not with military-specific variables.” It cited a rise in alcohol and drug abuse among the soldiers studied as likely causes for the increase in suicides, but did not consider those influences “military-specific.”
*UPDATE 08/28/2013: This post originally stated that Staff Sgt. Ty Carter was one of only five living recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. In fact, he is one of five who have received the MOH in the post 9/11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This interesting panel discussion from the 2013 APA Conference offers an interesting look at the challenges of getting psychology into the study and praxis of men and masculinity.
The presenters are academics (faculty or students) and not practitioners, so it feels like a critical perspective is missing - the "on the ground" daily work some of us do in counseling men.
What all of the student presenters have in common is an interest in how the "man box" (the gender norms and rules accepted and installed by the culture) impact men in their mental health, emotional expression, and relationships.
Interesting - and good to see young people pursuing these topics.
Published on Jun 3, 2012 The Men's Coping Lab at Clark University organized a symposium at the American Psychological Association Convention in San Francisco, California. The symposium discussed the utility grounding research on men and masculinity in extant basic psychology models and theories. Chair: Michael Addis, comments read by Alisha Pollastri Presenters (by appearance - bios below): MySha Whorley Jason Berkowitz Matthew Syzdek Jonathan Green
Our research team consists of faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the Department of Psychology at Clark. Dr. Michael Addis is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Clark University. He received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in 1995. Dr. Addis has published over fifty scientific articles and books on men's well-being, depression, anxiety, and the relationship between scientific research and clinical practice in psychology. He is currently interested in links between the social learning of masculine norms and the way men experience, express, and respond to problems in living. MySha Whorley is a fourth-year clinical psychology graduate student at Clark. Her overarching research interests are in the relationship between adherence to masculine norms and men's experience and expression of emotion. MySha recently concluded a study examining the relationship between adherence to masculine norms, negative affect, and the level of emotion expressed in men’s written disclosures. Her dissertation project will test an intervention to reduce depressive symptoms and increase social support seeking in men recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Jason Berkowitz is a senior undergraduate at Clark. His overarching research is men's mental health and partners of mental health patients. He hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology to continue research and to provide therapy. Jason is currently formulating an honor's project on the male partners of individuals with a mental disorder. Matthew Syzdek is a second-year clinical psychology student at Clark. His overarching interests are gender, class, mental health, and social justice, with a focus on how working class men deal with problems in their lives. Matt's current project examines stresses experienced by men following job loss. In his future work, Matt plans to integrate research, clinical work, and advocacy in the pursuit of bettering men’s well-being and mental health. He hopes that his work will eventually impact the lives of individual men as well as public policy. Jonathan Green is a first-year clinical psychology graduate student at Clark. His overarching research interests include adherence to masculine norms and depression in men; specifically the concept of "covert" or "masked" depression. Jonathan is currently studying the relationship between men's psychophysiology, endorsement of masculinity norms, and reported feelings of sadness.
Suicide is a decidedly "male" problem in a lot of ways. On the whole, more women than men attempt suicide, but more men than women complete suicide. The problem is most obvious in young men and older men.
In this post at his Psychology Today blog Boys to Men (The science of masculinity and manhood), professor Miles Groth, Ph.D., of Warner College (one of the architects of the Male Studies movement, and editor of New Male Studies), examines the situation surrounding suicide among college-aged men.
If this were reversed, and women were 4x more likely to suicide than
men, there would be national campaigns to raise awareness, Oprah would do a special, and
President Obama would appoint a committee of morons to look into the
issue. But it's only our young men - no worries, if weren't this it would be combat or some other cause.
I suspect there are a lot of areas where Dr. Groth and I diverge in our values and perspectives - but this one topic where we are on the same page. Something must be done about this crisis in our young men.
This week, a popular, successful young man beginning his senior year at a small liberal arts college in the Northeast left campus during one of the first days of the new semester after talking cheerfully with friends and participating in activities for new students. The next morning he was found dead, far away from home and campus. Next to him, the police told reporters, they found a suicide note. It was a "first" for the college, but it is a well-known phenomenon around the country. Suicides among young males are four times more common than among young female, and they are occurring among ever younger males, some in their early teens. Little is understood about what motivates boys and young men to take their lives in such numbers. Of as great concern is another fact: little effort has been made to understand the trend. The topic is at the top of the agenda of items for consideration at university and college centers for men. It now becomes another reason for stressing the need for such places on campuses. Among other topics at such centers, which are growing in number, are the relationship between fathers and sons, in particular the impact on young males of not having had a father during boyhood. Other common topics are body image and relationships with women -- and, perhaps most to the point here, their perception of how they are seen as males in contemporary culture. The psychology of male suicide is not at all well understood, but since late adolescence is a time of identity consolidation, it is thought that being unable to answer the question "Who am I, really?" is a critical feature among college age men who consider suicide. It is also known that young males are more impulsive than females and often act without giving the consequences of their acts much thought. This might include taking a drastic decision to leave this world. In more than 40 years of college-level teaching, I have observed thousands of young men change remarkably, especially during the last two college years. Generally on a somewhat later timetable that female peers, many undergo significant transformations only during the junior and senior years. They change in appearance, revise their persona, and perhaps for the first time make even a preliminary decision about what they want to study -- and this with only a year remaining. Their female peers have done this much earlier. Some find that they need a fifth year to finally put their intellectual, emotional, and even pre-vocational or pre-professional house in order. Many other young men have still not decided what they want to do by the time they graduate. They return home to live with their parents -- more than ever before. By contrast, most college women know what they want to do by commencement and head into further study, if they have decided to continue with their education, into a career, or into a serious relationship that might lead to parenting children. Just what prompts a young man to end his young life at a time when his prospects might be expected to be brightest is baffling -- unless we consider that they are facing a world that may seem not to have a place for them. And they are keenly aware of this. And they are hurt by it. Perhaps just having gotten over the fact that they are not especially welcome on college campuses -- something I have discussed in an earlier contribution -- they now face another world, the real world, that also has little good to say about men. They have all read in popular weeklies or on the internet about "the end of men" or heard the question "Are men necessary?" As I have reported here before, the numbers of males attending college is at an all time low (about 37% nationally) in proportion to their female peers. This trend has been of concern to admissions officers for twenty years. The reasons are not clear, but they include a sense of not being welcome. But what about a young man who is among that group who matriculated, has found a place for himself on a university campus in a major he enjoys, has been engaged in campus life, and has done well academically? We must suppose that another factor is at work when he leaves in all behind on a warm summer day. Perhaps the most vexing issue is that colleges and universities have not responded seriously to the fact -- not a guess, not a hunch -- the fact that the rate of young male suicides is so much greater than that of females during the college years. Why this has not become a topic for study and simple human concern is troubling. I am convinced that men's centers on college campuses by their very presence raise awareness of the challenges young men face -- not only at institutions of higher learning but in contemporary culture as a whole. As a footnote to the incident mentioned at the beginning of this contribution, on hearing about that young man's suicide, an anonymous donor made a gift of $800 to the center to support its work in trying to understand, among other matters, why so many young men are ending their lives. Here I bring issues of importance to discussion and leave it to others to advocate for policy change. In this case, I raise a question I believe is worth investigating: Why are so many more young men taking their lives -- even young men with the special advantage of being able to afford to attend university -- and at just that moment when they have finally negotiated some of life's most demanding puzzles: Who am I? What do I want to do? Surely, this question deserves eveyone's thoughtful consideration.
A strong Obama supporter asks for his attention to America's long ignored boys
Published on May 9, 2013 by Mark Sherman, Ph.D. in Real Men Don't Write Blogs Dear Mr. President, I am a lifelong liberal Democrat and a strong supporter of your presidency. A friend and I drove two hours to canvass for your candidacy in Scranton, PA during the 2008 primaries; I was overjoyed when you first won the nomination and then the presidency that year, and equally, if not more, ecstatic when you were re-elected last year. I contributed by far more to your campaigns than I ever have to any other political candidate. I continue to be a huge fan of yours -- bravo for your stands on gay marriage and gun control – but there is one thing about which I have been disappointed: your administration’s apparent lack of concern about how boys and young men are doing in America today. It is in this one area that I have found you, to my dismay, entirely silent. I have been concerned about this issue for 20 years. When I started reading and writing about it I had three sons; they have since been joined by three grandsons. I would love to have had a daughter or granddaughter, but I have simply been blessed by boys. (I suspect Abraham Lincoln may have understood my feelings. When 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to him in 1860, suggesting he grow a beard, she included this line, “Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me.” In his reply, the President wrote, “I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons…”) I am sure you are aware that on so many measures boys are lagging behind girls, and have been for quite a few years now. 0ne of the best comparisons comes from Tom Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, in his oft-cited "For every 100 girls...": Here is just a small sampling of his statistics:
"For every 100 . . .
girls diagnosed with a learning disability 276 boys are diagnosed with a learning disability.
fourth grade girls who watch television four or more hours per day, 123 boys do.
girls ages 9 to 11 years enrolled below modal grade there are 130 boys enrolled below modal grade.
tenth grade girls who play videogames for an hour or more a day, there are 322 tenth grade boys who do.
girls who are suspended from high school, there are 215 boys who are suspended.
young women who earn a bachelor's degree, there are 75 men who do.
females ages 15-24 who kill themselves, 586 males do.
women ages 18-24 who are in correctional facilities, there are 1439 men who are behind bars."
I realize that women have still not achieved full equality -- whether in terms of salary or position. But if one considers Americans under the age of 25 (and probably even going up to 30), there is little question that it is boys and young men who are lagging. Even Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, who is well-known for his op-ed pieces on the terrible problems facing girls and young women across the globe, has noted and written about the very different situation here in the United States (and it is one that exists in other industrialized nations as well). In March 2010 he wrote a piece titled "The Boys Have Fallen Behind," where he opens with these words: “Around the globe, it’s mostly girls who lack educational opportunities. Even in the United States, many people still associate the educational “gender gap” with girls left behind in math. “Yet these days, the opposite problem has sneaked up on us: In the United States and other Western countries alike, it is mostly boys who are faltering in school. The latest surveys show that American girls on average have roughly achieved parity with boys in math. Meanwhile, girls are well ahead of boys in verbal skills, and they just seem to try harder. “The National Honor Society says that 64 percent of its members — outstanding high school students — are girls.” There are efforts throughout the country to rectify this, but there is no movement even vaguely comparable to the effort made to help girls in areas where they have been behind. I believe this is because the effort to help girls came as an outgrowth of the women's movement. Women understandably felt that they did not want their daughters to face the same obstacles they did, and both fathers and mothers of daughters have been excited by the ways in which they have excelled. Until recently, and perhaps even today, mothers of sons have been excited by not only the success of women, but also of young girls. But I have found that more and more mothers – and grandmothers -- of boys are becoming concerned about their sons' and grandsons' futures. A perfect example is Dottie Lamm, former first lady of Colorado, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1998, and a leading feminist in her state. Ms. Lamm, who has three young grandsons, wrote a piece in the Denver Post in April 2010 titled "Our Boys Are Falling Behind in Education." Her opening lines are “What’s the next battle for an aging feminist? Boys.” Parents of daughters should be concerned about boys as well. Young women typically want to marry men who are their peers, or close to it, in education, ambition, and earning potential, but as the gender gap grows, finding a partner becomes more and more difficult. This situation is particularly pronounced in the minority community. To parallel the White House Council on Women and Girls that you initiated soon after you took office, might I respectfully suggest a White House Council on Boys and Young Men? In the meantime, if in one of your speeches, comments, or press conferences, you could just mention the fact that America’s boys and young men need our nation’s attention, it would bring to me, and so many others, a great feeling of hope. Thank you, Mr. President.
This segment of All Things Considered aired on the local NPR station Wednesday evening. This struck me as a largely male issue - men are more likely to be treated for depression by the family doctor than women (72-89% of females will see a mental health professional at some point, but only 41-58% of males will do so), men are more successful in committing suicide (by a margin of 4:1, even though more women attempt suicide, by a margin of 3:1), and men are more successful at suicide because they use guns (women tend to opt for overdose or cutting themselves).
When we finally look at the real numbers about guns and suicides, the debate about gun control is really an issue of suicide prevention, as noted by the Boston Globe:
In 2010, the last year for which complete numbers are available, the number of gun deaths by suicide in the United States outnumbered homicides 19,392 to 11,078. If you add up all American gun deaths that year, including accidents, 3 out of 5 people who died from gunshot wounds took their own lives. Those figures are not an anomaly: With just a few exceptions, the majority of gun deaths in the United States have been self-inflicted every year since at least 1920. This is a startling fact, and one that forces us to realize that, no matter what we may believe about the Second Amendment, the debate over how to reduce the death toll from guns is, to a great extent, a debate about suicide prevention.
Maybe if the men's rights folks took up an issue such as this, one that has nothing to do with feminism, more people would take them seriously.
Dr. Frank Dumont at his clinic in Estes Park, Colo.Barry Gutierrez for NPR
Dr. Frank Dumont knew one of his favorite patients was getting depressed. When Dumont first started seeing him, the man was in his 70s. He was active and fit; he enjoyed hiking into his 80s. But then things started to change. "He started complaining of his memory starting to slip," Dumont says. The man would forget where he had placed objects, and he'd struggle to remember simple words and phrases. Dumont prescribed antidepressants and saw him every eight weeks or so. Like a lot of people in the small town of Estes Park, 90 miles northwest of Denver, both Dumont and his patient were drawn to the ruggedly beautiful mountains there. One of them, called Longs Peak, is a cherished part of Dumont's life. He and the patient talked often about the picturesque mountain. "He was one of those people where you see them on the schedule for the day and you just smile," Dumont says. "You just realize you get a chance to chat with someone who feels like a friend." That's what their last visit was like. Dumont says he did ask the man whether he was having any thoughts of hurting himself, but got a very convincing no. "What in hindsight struck me about that visit is that he brought me a gift, which was a geological survey marker from the top of Longs Peak," says Dumont. "It was a replica, but it was one of those things that was just another reminder to me of this connection that we had had."
Dr. Frank Dumont holds a gift from a patient who committed suicide with a gun. In hindsight, Dumont sees it as a farewell from the man who was one of his favorite patients.Barry Gutierrez for NPR "And at the time it just seemed like a very generous gift that touched me," Dumont recalls. "And what I didn't realize at the time was that that was, I think, a farewell gift, or a bit of a parting gift, from him. Because I did not see him again. And the next that I had heard of him was from an emergency phone call from his wife about a month later, and she called needing to be seen. .... She had to come in and talk to me with how to deal with the fact that her husband had committed suicide." Dumont's patient shot himself in the head with a rifle. Dumont was stunned, and guilt-ridden. He says he always asks his depressed patients about suicide, whether they've thought about how they'd do it. But he now regrets not asking this patient specifically whether he had guns in the house. Suicide prevention researcher Dr. Matthew Miller, at the Harvard School of Public Health, says Dumont sounds like a great doctor. "He was doing everything he could to try to keep this guy from making a suicide attempt, but what he didn't do was the second step, which is make it hard for him to die if he did make an attempt," Miller says. The second step, Miller says, is asking patients if they have guns in the house or access to guns. If someone tries to commit suicide without using a gun, they probably won't succeed. "The likelihood of their dying is of an order of magnitude lower," he says. "Instead of there being a 90-plus percent chance of death, there's a greater than 90 percent chance that they'll live." Miller wants to make it routine for family doctors to ask their patients about guns. One large study found that nearly half of all suicide victims had seen a primary care doctor within a month of killing themselves. So it's important for them to bring up suicide and possible means. "We have to get people to stop thinking about these discussions as gun control in one way or another, but rather as a way of conveying useful information, so people make decisions that protect their family," Miller says. There are lots of reasons family doctors avoid bringing up guns with their patients. They may not want to offend a patient, or they may be too busy checking off all the preventive screenings and tests on the list. Not everybody wants gun advice from a medical professional. Edgar Antillon organized a pro-gun rally at the Colorado State Capitol earlier this year. He says he would resent a doctor bringing it up. "Tell me to stay healthy, tell me my baby has colic, but I don't think it's their job to tell me about gun safety," he says. "They're not gun experts. They're not NRA members. ... And if they are, then I'll take it as advice from an NRA member." But Dumont has spent a lot of time second-guessing himself since his patient shot himself. The doctor hopes small measures he can take will reduce the odds, just a fraction, that another one of his patients will die from suicide by gun. "I have a lower threshold for asking follow-up questions, asking the same thing a different way," he says. "Or if I have any inkling, starting to push a little bit further, and say, 'Well, so you're not really thinking about it, but have you ever thought about how you would go about it if you were going to?' And I have a lower threshold for asking about a weapon in the home as well." Dumont says he thinks more physicians would talk with their patients about guns if they got information about health risks associated with them. Medical journals and a federal board of experts regularly issue advice on prevention of obesity, car accidents and workplace injuries. But there's been a ban on federally funded gun safety research until President Obama restored it with an executive action.
This story is part of a partnership between NPR, Colorado Public Radio and Kaiser Health News.
There has been a lot of criticism of parents who never allow thier kids to experience failure, a tendency we also see in the schools and in youth sports, where no one loses and everyone is a winner just for showing up. To be perfectly honest, this is a white affluent problem - it's not a problem you will see in Compton (CA) or in Tucson's Barrio.
I work with the fall-out of a different kind of parenting - those who denigrate, ridicule, shame, and otherwise crush the spirit and individuality of their kids. These are the boys and girls who are molested as children and/or raped as adults. They makle bad choices because they have no sense of self-worth, no sense that they deserve better.
I like this article below because it offers a different take on parenting - it teaches self-worth and self-compassion. It is about teaching our children to have what psychologists call an internal locus of control (self-affirming and self-directed) rather than relying on others for a sense of worth or purpose (external locus of control). I also like that he talks about failure as a teacher, accpeting change as inevitable, and that becoming comfortable with discomfort is essential.
Leo Babauta is the creator and writer of Zen Habits (where this article originally appeared). He is married and has six kids. Zen Habits is one of the Top 25 blogs and Top 50 websites in the world.
Leo Babauta has some advice for his kids. And yes, it’s a little zen.
I have six lovely children — one of them now an adult, and a couple more almost there — and I give a lot of thought to what I think they should know as they grow up and go out into the world. What could I best teach them to equip them for life? This is what I’d like them to know: You are good enough. Most people are afraid to do things because they are afraid they’re not good enough, afraid they’ll fail. But you are good enough — learn that and you won’t be afraid of new things, won’t be afraid to fail, won’t need the approval of others. You’ll be pre-approved — by yourself. All you need to be happy is within you. Many people seek happiness in food, drugs, alcohol, shopping, partying, sex…because they’re seeking external happiness. They don’t realize the tools for happiness aren’t outside them. They’re right inside you: mindfulness, gratitude, compassion, thoughtfulness, the ability to create and do something meaningful, even in a small way. You can start your own business. As a young man, I thought I needed to go to college and then be employed, and that owning a business is for rich people. That was all wrong. It’s possible for almost anyone to start their own business, and while you’ll probably do badly at first, you’ll learn quickly. It’s a much better education than college. Everything useful I’ve learned I didn’t learn from college…I learned from doing. That said, I’ve had some amazing teachers. They’re not always in school, though: they’re everywhere. A friend I met at work. My peers online. My mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, uncles and aunts. My wife. My kids. Failure. Teachers are everywhere, if you’re willing to learn. Spend less than you earn. Thirty percent less if you can manage. Most people get a job and immediately spend their income on a car loan, high rent or a large mortgage, buying possessions and eating out using credit cards. None of that is necessary. Don’t spend it if you don’t have it. Learn to go without, and be happy with less. Put away some of your income to grow with the power of compound earnings. Your future self will thank you. Learn to love healthy food. It’s all a matter of adjusting your tastebuds, slowly and gradually. Learn to cook for yourself. Try some healthy, delicious recipes. Learn compassion. We start life with a very selfish outlook — we want what we want. But compassion is about realizing we are no more important than everyone else, and we aren’t at the center of the universe. Someone annoys you? Get outside of your little shell, and try to see how their day is going. How can you help them be less angry, less in pain? Never stop learning. If you just learn something a little a day, it will add up over time immensely. Have fun being active. Sure, there’s lots of fun to be had online, and in eating sweets and fried food, and in watching TV and movies and playing video games. But going outside and playing with friends, tossing a ball around, swimming, climbing something, challenging each other … that’s even more fun. And it leads to a healthy life, healthy heart, more focused and energetic mind. Get good at discomfort. Avoiding discomfort is very common, but a big mistake. Learning to be OK with some discomfort will change your life. The things that stress you out don’t matter. Take a larger perspective: will this matter in five years? Most likely the answer is no. If the answer is yes, attend to it. Savor life. Not just the usual pleasures, but everything and everyone. The stranger you meet on the bus. The sunshine that hits your face as you walk. The quiet of the morning. Time with a loved one. Time alone. Your breath as you meditate. Meditate. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They are some of the best teachers. Instead, learn to be OK with mistakes, and learn to learn from them, and learn to shrug them off so they don’t affect your profound confidence in who you are. You need no one else to make you happy or validate you. You don’t need a boss to tell you that you’re great at what you do. You don’t need a boyfriend/girlfriend to tell you that you’re lovable. You don’t need your friends’ approval. Having loved ones and friends in your life is amazing, but know who you are first. Learn to be good at change. Change is the one constant in life. You will suffer by trying to hold onto things. Learn to let go (meditation helps with this skill), and learn to have a flexible mind. Don’t get stuck in what you’re comfortable with, don’t shut out what’s new and uncomfortable. Open your heart. Life is amazing if you don’t shut it out. Other people are amazing. Open your heart, be willing to take the wounds that come with an open heart, and you will experience the best of life. Let love be your rule. Success, selfishness, righteousness … these are not good rules to live by. Love family, friends, coworkers, strangers, your brothers and sisters in humanity. Love even those who think they’re your enemy. Love the animals we treat as food and objects. Most of all, love yourself. And always know, no matter what: I love you with every particle of my being. – Main photo: reallyterriblephotographer / flickr Author image: zenhabits.net
Over at the Good Men Project this morning, Anthony Carter has an article entitled, "Young Boys Need Self-Esteem to Survive," an idea that seems pretty obvious and useful on the surface. However, I have long agreed with Kristin Neff, PhD (University of Texas) and clinical psychologist Christopher Germer, PhD, who both argue that self-compassion is more important than self-esteem. After the article from Carter, I will offer some information on why self-compassion is not only better, but more important than self-esteem.
Anthony Carter knows how hard it is to survive a childhood that was critical of who he was. He wants that to change for the boys of today.
To all the boys who may or may not be queer. The boys picked last in sports but first for the latest in fashion, entertaining, and tasteful decorating. The boys who couldn’t catch a football but instead could clean a bathroom until it sparkles and offer serious, heartfelt care to a sick sibling. I salute you. I salute us. In this culture, our gifts go unrecognized or at worse, get criticized and mocked. I salute all the boys like me who were different. Yes, we are here to stay and more importantly will be leading the revolution when the time comes. Did I mention the time is now? We are through waiting patiently for the all powerful “they,” whoever the they happens to be this week, to allow us the privilege to “be.” We have been quietly watching from the sidelines learning to survive a very hostile world that is not ready for us. However, no one is ever fully ready for change. It pretty much sneaks up on you.
♦◊♦
As a young boy and now older adult, I have spent my life seeking kindness. I witness so much cruelty, domination, and coercion in the world. What are boys and men like me to do if there is no urge to dominate or be dominated? What to do when we would rather a great conversation and a cup of coffee than an opportunity to one up a friend or colleague? In this world, the thinking man is a problem man. As a person seeking kindness, it becomes difficult to hold out for this seemingly unattainable entity. It seems almost an impossibility trying to survive amidst a world that seems so set on destroying everything that you are. Almost impossible is not the same as impossible. Those of us who have survived childhood and didn’t give into the self-hatred that is so seductive when you don’t toe the line, know a thing or two about not only surviving but thriving. Within the harshest of circumstances, human beings hunger for and create beauty. As a man/boy learns to thrive beyond a prescribed masculinity, we totally thrive by repeatedly creating beauty. Our refusal to stop being, doing, and developing the things that sustain us is the most important step in revolutionizing our thinking, our relationships and our planet. Hurray for the assholes that bullied us and bravo to all the young males who survived it, didn’t recreate it, and learned how to not stop simply because a wall of shit fell on their heads.
One key line above is important in my opinion: "Our refusal to stop being, doing, and developing the things that sustain us is the most important step in revolutionizing our thinking, our relationships and our planet." Being who we are and doing the things that sustain us has little to do with self-esteem and everything to do with self-compassion.
Here is a short video from Dr. Neff on the important differences between self-esteem and self-compassion:
Self-esteem, which stems from evaluations of self-worth, is constituted by judgments and comparisons (Coopersmith, 1967; Harter, 1999). As William James (1890) proposed over a century ago, self-esteem involves evaluating personal performances (how good am I?) in comparison to set standards (what counts as good enough?) in domains of perceived importance (it’s important to be good at this). Self-esteem also involves looking to others’ evaluations of the self (how much do others like me, approve of me?), in order to determine how much one likes the self (Cooley, 1902; Mead, 1934). Social comparison is an additional determinant of self-esteem (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1993; Beach & Tesser, 1995; Buunk, 1998; Deci & Ryan, 1995; Suls & Wills, 1991), so that the self is evaluated in relation to the performances of others.
There are also sub-types of self-esteem, such as domain specific self-esteem, contingent self-esteem, and stable self-esteem, among others.
In opposition to the self-esteem model, which can result in less than desirable behaviors in order to maintain social approval, to measure up to others, or an "over-emphasis on evaluating and liking the self may lead to narcissism, self-absorption, self-centeredness, and a lack of concern for others" (Neff, 2003), Neff (2009) has proposed an alternate model based in self-compassion, one that does not involve evaluations of self-worth:
Drawing upon ideas discussed in the Insight tradition of Buddhism (e.g., Brach, 2003; Kornfield, 1993; Salzberg, 1997), self-compassion is defined in terms of three main components: self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and mindfulness when considering personal weakness or hardships (see Neff, 2003a, 2003b, for a more complete discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of self-compassion). Research on self-compassion is part of a larger movement by Western psychologists to investigate the validity of Buddhist ideas concerning the causes and amelioration of suffering and to examine the usefulness of techniques such as mindfulness for adaptive functioning (see Wallace & Shapiro, 2006, for review).
Although people typically value being kind and compassionate to others, they are often harsh and uncaring toward themselves. The intense self-focus that occurs when people confront their own limitations can sometimes lead to a type of tunnel vision in which people become over-identified with and carried away by negative thoughts and feelings about themselves. Feelings of isolation can also occur when people temporarily forget that failure and imperfection are part of the shared human experience, serving to amplify and exacerbate suffering. Self-compassion, on the other hand, involves being kind toward oneself when considering weaknesses, remembering that being human means being flawed and imperfect, and learning from one’s mistakes. Self-compassion also involves taking a mindful approach to negative thoughts and emotions that acknowledges the reality of personal failings while keeping them in balanced perspective. Mindfulness shifts one’s attention away from elaborative cognitive processing—especially those thoughts creating stories about the self (Martin, 1997)—toward the nonjudgmental acceptance of present-moment experience (Bishop et al., 2004). Thus, self-compassion tends to soften rather than reinforce egoprotective boundaries between self and others. (For an alternative conceptualization of self-compassion, see Gilbert & Irons, 2005 or Gilbert & Procter, 2006.)
In this same article, Neff argues that people who rate higher in self-compassion likely are not as defensive of their egos (compared to people who are working to maintain their self-esteem) because their feelings of inadequacy are experienced with acceptance rather than evaluation and judgment.
One of the huge criticisms of the "self-esteem movement" in this country is the need for everyone to feel special (to the point that score is not kept in games or everyone gets a trophy for showing up). After all, who wants to be average? Few people describe themselves as average and many would consider it an insult.
In contrast, self-compassion is predicated on the acknowledgment of shared and universal aspects of life experience and therefore tends to highlight similarities rather than differences with others. Also, whereas self-esteem is often contingent on the successful attainment of goals, self-compassion is felt precisely when life is not going so well, allowing for greater resilience and stability regardless of particular outcomes. (Neff, 2009)
So, rather than arguing that young boys need self-esteem to survive, I would argue that our boys (and teens and men) need self-compassion to survive . . . or even better, to thrive.
This makes sense, from my own experience. Bi-men might receive acceptance from family and friends when "coming out," but in other situations (often with female partners) being honest can result in getting rejected, which no doubt negatively impacts mental health.
More importantly, however, the study shows that bisexual men who are concerned about concealing their same-sex behavior also experience lower levels of social support and more internalized homophobia - negative attitudes toward their own same-sex behavior.
Bisexual Men On the 'Down Low' Run Risk for Poor Mental Health Jan. 2, 2013 — Bisexual men are less likely to disclose and more likely to conceal their sexual orientation than gay men. In the first study to look at the mental health of this population, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that greater concealment of homosexual behavior was associated with more symptoms of depression and anxiety. The study published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, examined bisexual men "on the down low," a subgroup of bisexual men who live predominantly heterosexual lives and do not disclose their same-sex behavior, a group that has not been studied to date. The researchers studied 203 nongay-identified men in New York City, who self-reported being behaviorally bisexual and had not disclosed their same-sex behavior to their female partners. According to findings, men who live with a wife or girlfriend, who think of themselves as heterosexual, and who have a lower frequency of sex with men were more likely to conceal their same-sex behavior. Greater frequency of sex with women also correlated with greater concealment. Men with a household income of $30,000 or more per year reported greater concealment about their same-sex behavior than men with lower incomes. "Our research provides information on the factors that might contribute to greater concealment among this group of behaviorally bisexual men," said Eric Schrimshaw, PhD, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences and lead author. "Such information is critical to understanding which of these bisexual men may be at greatest risk for mental health problems." Nearly 38% of the men reported that they have not shared with anyone that they have sex with men. Only 41% reported that they had confided in a best friend or parent. Dr. Schrimshaw and colleagues found that greater concealment correlated with more symptoms of depression and anxiety and lower positive emotions. However, disclosure to a few close friends or family did not seem to help; disclosure to confidants was not associated with good mental health. "The fact that concealment, but not disclosure, was associated with the mental health of these bisexual men is critically important for the way therapeutic interventions are conducted in this population," said Karolynn Siegel, PhD, professor of Sociomedical Sciences and co-author. "Although disclosure may result in acceptance from family and friends, in other cases -- particularly with female partners -- disclosure may also result in rejecting reactions, which are adversely associated with mental health." The research also suggests reasons why concealment was negatively associated with mental health. Bisexual men who were more concerned than others about concealing their same-sex behavior also tended to report lower levels of social support and more internalized homophobia -- that is, negative attitudes toward their same-sex behavior. The findings indicate that publically disclosing their same-sex behavior may not be necessary to their mental health, as long as bisexual men have adequate emotional support to cope with other stressors in their lives. Professionals who do therapeutic work with bisexual men may wish to focus instead on helping such men reduce their perceived need to conceal their same-sex behavior and accept their sexual orientation.
Citation:
Eric W. Schrimshaw, Karolynn Siegel, Martin J. Downing, Jeffrey T. Parsons. Disclosure and Concealment of Sexual Orientation and the Mental Health of Non-Gay-Identified, Behaviorally Bisexual Men. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2012; DOI:10.1037/a0031272
A new study shows that higher levels of emotional distress in expectant fathers are associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems in children during their early years. This adds to previous evidence that it's not only the mother's diet that matters. The father's in the weeks and months before conception can impact the future health of his child through the process of epigenetics.
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Action Points
An expectant father's mental health problems may be linked to his child's behavioral and emotional difficulties early in life.
Point out that higher levels of emotional distress in expectant fathers were associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems in children.
An expectant father's mental health problems may be linked to his child's behavioral and emotional difficulties early in life, researchers found. A Norwegian cohort found paternal psychological distress was associated with a small but positive risk of a child developing behavioral difficulties (P=0.02), emotional difficulties (P< 0.001), and impaired social functioning at age 36 months (P=0.007), according to Anne Lise Kvalevaag, PhD candidate, of Helse Fonna HF in Haugesund, Norway, and colleagues. Higher levels of emotional distress in expectant fathers were associated with higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems in children, they wrote online in Pediatrics. Earlier research has found ties between psychiatric disorders in mothers and "increased risk of socioemotional and behavioral problems in their children," the authors noted. "The current study demonstrates that there is a consistent positive predictive association between fathers' parental mental health status and their children's socioemotional and behavioral development at 36 months of age," they concluded. "The findings are of importance for clinicians and policymakers in their planning of healthcare in the perinatal period because this represents a significant opportunity for preventive intervention." The researchers examined associations between paternal mental health and children's socioemotional and behavioral development through a prospective, population-based cohort of 31,663 kids in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Fathers' mental health information was acquired through the self-reported Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (SCL-5) at weeks 17 or 18 of gestation. SCL-5 is an indicator of level of global mental distress, mainly symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the cutoff point for SCL-5 is 2.00, they authors explained. Data on the child's emotional and behavioral development -- as well as the mother's pre- and postnatal mental health -- were taken at 36 months after birth. Maternal mental health was evaluated through the same questionnaire fathers filled out. Child development was evaluated through three parental-response questionnaires on mental health, socioemotional problems, and behavior. The mean SCL-5 score for the fathers was 1.13. Three percent of the fathers had a score above the cutoff of 2.00. In a crude analysis with behavioral difficulties as the dependent variable, paternal psychological distress was significantly associated with a child's behavioral (odds ratio 1.28, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.58) and emotional difficulties (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.00) at age 36 months, as well as social functioning (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.62). This association persisted after adjustment for age, education, marital status, somatic conditions, alcohol and tobacco use, physical activity, and maternal mental health. When the model was fully adjusted, associations between behavioral difficulties and father's distress lost significance (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.40, P=0.3), though the other associations remained significant. The authors noted "a number of possible mechanisms could account for this association" including a prenatal genetic effect of paternal psychological distress, negative outcomes of depression on mothers resulting in negative outcomes for the child, and prenatal health predicting postnatal health, which "may account for some of the associations seen." The authors noted several limitations with their study. The cohort had a 38.5% participation rate, which could have resulted in selection bias. Additionally, survey answers were self-reported and can be affected by rater bias.
The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study is supported by grants from the Norwegian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Research, the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Norwegian Research Council/Functional Genomics in Norway.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source reference: Kvalevaag AL, et al. (2013). Paternal mental health and socioemotional and behavioral development in their children. Pediatrics; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0804.
