Woman Lists 'Things That Men Uniquely Struggle With' (23 Tweets)

They say the greatest gift you can give someone is your time. So licensed therapist Yassmin Eldouh decided to commemorate International Men’s Day by taking a moment to acknowledge some of the problems modern men are facing today.

After she was done, Eldouh tweeted the list, highlighting that it’s not meant to undermine the issues women face, but to open a dialogue and shed light on issues that men are dealing with every day. 100,000 likes and 35,000 retweets later, I would say she succeeded.

More info: Twitter

International Men's Day is an annual international event that takes place on the 19th of November. It is meant to celebrate boys' and men's achievements, in particular for their contributions to the nation, Union, society, community, family, marriage, and childcare. In a broader sense, its ultimate aim is to promote basic humanitarian values.

So you could say Eldouh has addressed these difficult topics at precisely the right time. Dr. Raymond Hobbs, a physician consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, shares similar beliefs that Eldouh expressed in her thread. "I think part of [why men are far less likely to seek treatment than women] may be this macho thing," Hobbs told Healthline. "A lot of guys don’t want to admit they have this problem. They still see depression as a sign of weakness."

He was clear that this type of thinking is outdated, coming from previous generations. It doesn't speak to the current medical understanding of mental illness. "We know so much more now, and we recognize the chemical changes that take place. In many ways, mental illness is just like diabetes, or any other physical condition," he explained.

Another thing Eldouh has focused on in her tweets is masculinity, more specifically, society's perception of masculinity.

"When you're talking about toxic masculinity, it really comes down to the way males are brought up," Hobbs said. "They were taught to be strong and quiet. If you look at the old John Wayne movies, that was the model we were supposed to aspire to. But it's also a model that is dysfunctional in many ways."

In fact, some think this model of masculinity is exactly why men are more likely to underreport symptoms of depression.