The lie Nigerian men are told about strength is destroying them slowly

I just read this article on Men's Mental Health Awareness Month and it hit me hard. The way we raise our boys in this country is actually setting them up for a breakdown. They are told men don't cry, that their worth is tied to how much they can provide, that therapy is for women only. I see it every day in my practice — men walking in with untreated depression because they think admitting pain makes them less of a man.

One line from the article that stuck with me: they are raised to believe the only valid emotion is anger. So they cannot cry, they cannot be vulnerable, they cannot ask for help. And then we wonder why suicide rates are highest among men. The silence we encourage is literally killing them. Be honest, how many of us have told a male friend to just man up instead of asking him what is really wrong?