The Causes of Mental Illness in Young Men

“The pain of depression is quite unimaginable to those who have not suffered it, and it kills in many instances because its anguish can no longer be borne. The prevention of many suicides will continue to be hindered until there is a general awareness of the nature of this pain.” -William Styron, Writer of Sophie’s Choice 

The rise of mental illness in our youth has been an ever-growing problem in our society. In particular, the rise of mental illness in young men has led to real-life violence, repeated abuse, and preventable suicides. The arise of this problem comes from a plethora of complex factors that can fill thousands of pages of books about every single on of its complicated angles. However, three causes of this issue rise above the rest has the main causes of mental illness in young men today. First, the issue of physical, mental, and sexual abuse that is often present in these young men. Second, the social isolation that is becoming increasingly present in the modern age, especially, during the covid pandemic. Third, the advent of social media and young people increasing reliance on it as a form of socialization. These causes have been with us for a long time with the advances of society it has become a evermore clear issue. 

Before we get into the causes of mental illness it is essential to have an easy to understand definition of mental illness. According to the World Health Organization, “A mental disorder is characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior.” (WHO) Which in simple terms meaning something is out of the normal for the standard person. Examples of disorders that people suffer is Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, ADHD, Ext. What about mental illness in men makes them different than woman? For starters, 29% of woman suffer from a major depressive episode  while only 11.5% of men suffer from a major depressive episode (SAMHSA) However, in 2019 the suicide rate among men was 3.5 time higher than that of women(US Department of Health 2022) Often, despite women struggling more from mental illness, men often act there disorders out in a destructive way. This is why it is vitally important to understand what outside forces control these issues. 

First among these issue which almost all mental disorders arise from is abuse and the trauma that comes with that. To see how big of an issue these is let’s acknowledge a horrific fact that 588,229 cases where reported of child abuse in the US alone in the year 2021(US Health Department 2023) Though this number has been going down over the years it is still staggering high, and this doesn’t account for the cases of abuse that don’t get reported; In which, you can imagine would increase the number by another staggering number. Additionally, more young men die from abuse than woman for example in the year 2021, 599 girls died due to abuse, compared to 878 boys who died in the same year (US Health Department 2023) This is because often men are treated more roughly then woman because of the societal standards that are giving to men that they need to be strong and emotionless which is also a big part of emotional abuse that is common amongst men. Another big factor of abuse is sexual abuse. Amongst boys the number of children sexually abused in 2021 was 279, 501. Which is slightly lower than the number of girls who were abused but is still a shocking number (US Health Department.) These statistics have lead to the rise of mental illness in young men. Though technically the numbers are going down, it is still way too high for comfort. The number of children abuse is slightly over the population of Wyoming! That is enough to be consider a pandemic of child abuse in this country.  

Isolation has been an increasing issue with the rise of the Covid pandemic, but other factor too has led young adults isolating themselves. First of all adults ages 18-24 where 71% more likely to experience loneliness and depression related to loneliness than older people. (Cinga) Which isolation has been shown to cause serious mental health issues such as depression. Now with the Covid Pandemic and mandated isolation the number of people experience isolation had a worrying increase. In 2018 27% of people felt isolated from others however in the year 2020 it increased to 56% (IHPI) The issue with social isolation and the increase of social isolation during the covid pandemic no wonder why it is a major cause of mental illness in young men. 

What many people do not realize (Or some realize too much) we are in the wild west of social media. There are many issues that social media brings that we don’t know the full nature of its effect. The deeper issue on ethics in media is another issue that needs to be discuss, however, I want to explore its effects on young men and the harm it can do if unchecked. With the increasing isolation of young men, many of them are turning to the internet for socialization. This has horrific dangers of it’s own with many chat rooms having extremist views that could not only increase mental health issue in men, but lead to real life consequences. According to a 2022 report, 4.4 million (that is nearly 8 times the population of Wyoming!) visited a body image related forum that encourages “looksmaxing” which is a incel term for constantly trying to improve one’s appearance, and incel forums totally 2.4 million  visits per month, and most worrying is the fact that 750,000 people visit suicide forums that promote the idea of suicide has an answer to mental illness. Keep in mind all of these websites are male-only forums.(Center for Countering Digital Hate 1) These hate forums that encourage unhealthy thinking and actions are a plague to young  men everywhere. 

In conclusion, it is stated clearly that mental illness in young men is a massive issue that has several main causes. First, trauma leading to the growth of mental illness. Second, the growing issue of isolation in these young individuals. Third, the rise of social media and its adverse effects on young men. This three cause need to be address before we can solve the issue of mental illness and help these young men cope with it. 

Work Cited 

“Mental Disorders.” World Health Organization. 6-8-2022 Mental disorders (who.int) 

US Department of Health and Human Services. "Deaths by Suicide per 100,000 Resident Population in The United States from 1950 to 2019, by Gender." Statista, Statista Inc., 14 Sep 2022, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/187478/death-rate-from-suicide-in-the-us-by-gender-since-1950/ 

SAMHSA. "Percentage of U.S. Youths with a Major Depressive Episode in The past Year from 2004 to 2021, by Gender." Statista, Statista Inc., 4 Jan 2023, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/252323/major-depressive-episode-among-us-youths-by-gender-since-2004/ 

Administration for Children & Families, and US Department of Health and Human Services. "Total Number of Victims of Child Abuse in The United States from 2012 to 2021." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Feb 2023, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/639375/number-of-child-abuse-cases-in-the-us/ 

US Department of Health and Human Services, and Administration for Children & Families. "Number of Child Fatalities Due to Abuse or Maltreatment in The United States in 2021, by Sex of Victim." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Feb 2023, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/255024/number-of-child-fatalities-due-to-abuse-or-maltreatment-in-the-us-by-sex/ 

US Department of Health and Human Services, and Administration for Children & Families. "Number of Child Abuse Cases in The United States in 2021, by Gender of The Victim." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Feb 2023, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/203831/number-of-child-abuse-cases-in-the-us-by-gender/ 

Cigna. "Percentage of Younger and Older Adults in The United States Who Reported Feeling Lonely as of December 2021." Statista, Statista Inc., 26 May 2022, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/1420222/loneliness-among-young-and-old-adults-us/ 

IHPI (National Poll on Healthy Aging). "Percentage of Older Adults in The U.S. Who Reported Feeling Lonely or Isolated before and during The Covid-19 Pandemic as of June 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 14 Sep 2020, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/1247146/us-older-adults-feeling-lonely-before-vs-during-covid/ 

Center for Countering Digital Hate. "Number of Average Monthly Visits to Forums Related to The Largest Dedicated Incel Internet Forum Worldwide between April and June 2022 (in Millions)." Statista, Statista Inc., 23 Sep 2022, https://www-statista-com.lccc.idm.oclc.org/statistics/1345796/monthly-visits-forums-related-biggest-global-incel-forum/