On Mental Health

It's been one year since I graduated from Northern Arizona University. One of the important things I had to do was complete a graduation capstone project. My capstone thesis was “The Effects of Mental Health Among College Men And College Men Veterans.”

In my capstone, I explained the symptoms and the signs of mental health issues. I spent four months writing my capstone and showing evidence for the claim. I also had to meet with my professor and peers weekly to give an update on my project.

For those who don't know what a capstone is, it is required to do a platform and how it represents my major. In this case journalism and my minor in public relations. You might ask why mental health has anything to do with journalism. I have done many stories and interviews with college students who have been victims of sexual abuse, raped, neglection or depression.

The day before I graduated from NAU, I had to give a presentation on my capstone. Parents of students and the NAU professors had to listen to me do a three-minute lecture on my capstone and I presented a slideshow. Each professor had to evaluate my capstone and give the suggested grade. I got an A on my capstone but an overall B in the class because I was a few seconds late in turning in my project.

On day three of the spring semester, I had to make my case in front of my class and Capstone Professor Rachel Cox. Professor Cox asked me the following questions: How does this thesis represent your major? What will it do to help you get employment? Why is it important to you? Are you committed to this thesis?

My answer was I have reported numerous stories on mental health. This capstone thesis can help me get employment because as a journalist I want to be a voice for the voiceless and get their story heard so people can understand why this is an important issue. This subject of mental health is important to me because when I was 10 years old, my Uncle Johnny committed suicide and it affected me. Ever since my uncle took his own life I wanted to help other families so they do not have to go through what my family had to deal with. I also made the case that being suicidal is a mental health issue because it's a symptom of depression.

Professor Cox liked my idea however, she suggested that I should make it a little bit different. We met one-on-one in her office, and she said to research who has the highest mental health issues between men and women. The first two weeks of the spring semester were a rough draft for students to piece everything into their capstone.

What I have discovered is that the issue of mental health is fairly even between men and women. However, based on the research I have done, men are less likely to seek help with their mental health issues than women.

After showing the evidence that men are less likely to get help than women, Professor Cox knew I was on to something. Since mental health is a common thesis undergraduates use, she suggested making it a thesis on which group of men are less likely to get help when it comes to mental health. So I came up with the idea for my thesis, “The Effects of Mental Health Among College Men And College Men Veterans” as my capstone.

Professor Cox said I hit the nail with the hammer on this one because this would differ from other capstone projects. Then Professor Cox asked me to come up with the main cause or reason why college men and college men veterans do not get help.

After watching a video on YouTube from Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was doing a special on Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, Dr. Oz talked about the issue of toxic masculinity.

This may sound controversial, and some people would view it as some type of woke ideology. By no means am I making this a political issue but to make it short to the point some people look at toxic masculinity as a man being a misogynist.

This is simply not true. The truth is toxic masculinity is a form of depression. Professor Cox loved my idea. The next step was I had to show evidence of why toxic masculinity is part of depression and how it is connected to mental health.

What is toxic masculinity?

According to sources I have interviewed, the cause of toxic masculinity is feeling weak, and helpless. Men should not cry, should not be wimps, and must be tough and show no emotions. In some cases, college men and college men veterans deal with these types of struggles. You have college students who are veterans returning to civilian life but have not adjusted to getting away from war or military life.

There are ordinary college male students who could be homeless or living in a broken home surrounded by abuse. In those situations, young male college students who struggle emotionally, have difficulty getting food or paying tuition. This can lead to depression because they have no place to go and do not want to live in the place where they have experienced abuse. According to homeless students I have interviewed, they rather live on the streets than deal with an abusive stepfather or mother who has an issue with substance abuse. They said getting help is a waste of time because no one cares for them.

How male values can make or break any man’s health

The issue of male values has a connection to toxic masculinity. According to Jermaine Barkley health educator at NAU Health Center, toxic masculinity and male values are connected because there are men who feel that they have failed their role as being a man such as the protector and provider. Barkley also said college male veteran students face issues of depression based on their male values in serving in the military such as mental toughness and sacrifice. He said when veterans feel they have not lived up to their high expectations, they fall into the fear of failure.

“When you think of male values, you think of protection and strength”, Barkley said. “As for veterans, you think of sacrifice and being able to get a grip through situations for the greater good. Those things are great but they are not necessarily conducive to taking care of your mental health”.

Barkley said when it comes to the issue of toxic masculinity, the insanity behind mental illness causes the power of fear and embarrassment to silence men from seeking help.

“What I see is there is a lot associated with men reaching out for help,” Barkley says. “ So I think a lot of men from what I hear them say, asking for help or being vulnerable, somehow makes them weak and feel less capable as a man”.

How College Male Veterans Have Trouble Adapting To Civilian Life

Christine Kilby, Vet Resource Navigator and student for NAU Veterans Services, said college male veterans deal with toxic masculinity and the fears of being ashamed. She said her veteran peers deal with the pressure of living up to the standards they are trained to live by.

“There are many stigmas around mental health and feel that it is a man’s way to swallow their emotions and not express them,” Kilby said. “Male veterans were taught at a young age not to cry like a girl”.

Kilby said male veteran students she has counseled have said they were taught to believe seeking help makes them weak and they refused to get help. She said it's a fear they carry with them after military life.

“It is just exemplified in the military because to them being in the military is a man’s world,” Kilby said. “Just to uphold the stigmas is the reason it contributes to why they do not get help”.

Introduction of abnormal psychology.

To understand the facts about mental health, you must know how to connect through psychology. Psychology is the science of understanding human behavior and how the mind works and communicates.

Micheal Alban, professor of abnormal psychology at NAU, said his main objective is to help students understand the human mind and to identify activities that foster mental health. He said it is all about solving the mystery behind the control of the human brain and what leads to the disorders that go along with it.

“I often introduce to my students a multiple-level analysis of what we call the biopsychosocial perspective,” Alban said. “So when it comes to what contributes to mental health and what kind of things compromise mental illness it could be biological, psychological, social, and cultural”

Alban also said to understand the functions of mental health is to study serotonin and GABA System (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid.). According to the Cleveland Clinic, Serotonin is a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout your body,

“If there are breakdowns of efficiencies of serotonin in the brain, individuals can experience depression,” Alban said. “If there are inefficiencies in the GABA System, people can experience generalized anxiety”. “So, in other words at a biological level, it is healthy neurochemicals and circuitry to the brain”.

With only a month and a half left of the spring semester, Professor Cox gave me my next challenge. She asks me to describe in my term paper the villains and victims within mental health. She also wanted to do a comparison to a superhero, a victim, and a villain from either a movie, book, or comic. So that's when I came up with the idea of Star Wars being connected to mental health.

How Star Wars emulates mental health.

As a kid, I was one of those Star Wars nerds and to this day I still am. If you have followed all the Star Wars trilogies, then you know the story of Anakin Skywalker, you would know he was both a victim and a villain when he became Darth Vader.

Anakin Skywalker is an example of how he was dealing with mental health and the symptoms of toxic masculinity. In the fictional story, Anakin Skywalker was born into slavery. He did not know what it was like to be free. Anakin's three weaknesses are fear, anger, and hate which lead to his suffering and death. Anakin hated to be weak and wanted to be powerful and was willing to do whatever it took to make people fear him and not fear others.

How Anakin’s toxic masculinity leads him to the dark side.

Anakin’s fear was he did not know how to live free. He was afraid of leaving his mom behind because he felt it was better to be a slave and be controlled than to be self-reliant. Anakin’s anger would get the best of him because he felt he needed to be powerful. His hate and jealousy of the other Jedi nights lead to his suffering and slipping into the dark side and eventually ends up becoming Darth Vader. When Anakin returns to his home in Tatooine, he finds his mother dead. He took out his anger and killed people who were not responsible for his mother's death. He was upset that he could not be there to protect his mother.

The villain behind mental health is Denial. Anakin’s downfall.

Denial is the main culprit in mental health because when people refuse to get the help they need, they live in denial. In my capstone, I made the argument about how Akakin lived in denial because he ignored the fact he was suffering inside and could not let go of his past and his fear, anger, and hate were controlled by the Emperor. I used the Emperor Sith as an example of emulating depression and anxiety as a means of controlling Darth Vader’s mind.

There is a lot to say about mental health and my capstone is not about Star Wars but how it connects and relates to it. I have done many studies and research which support what I have written in my term paper. The main purpose of my capstone is to help other people who have friends and loved ones dealing with depression or any mental health issues.

I welcome you to read my capstone page on medium.com. You will find all the research I have done and the pieces I put together to give my readers a clear understanding of mental health. You will also find a YouTube Video linked to my capstone page with the interviews I have done.

As you read my capstone you will find other sources of information on the connection of mental health. It is done step by step so you can understand what are the causes.

Feel free to send me an email and let me know what you think. My goal is to help save lives and if my capstone has helped you let me know.