Your superheroes are depressed
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, we open a melon that excites us and distresses us in equal parts: mental health and masculinity.
What do you think of when you read the word “depression”? Well, probably someone who is taciturn, dark, self-absorbed... depressed by numerous traumas.
Normally you don't think about yourself... Or your best colleague... Or your co-worker... You wouldn't think of Batman either 🦇.
And all of that is a mistake because we tend to imagine mental health as something far away from us; crazy thing. When in reality it is much closer than you imagine.
BATMAN IS VERY WRONG (EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT)
T R A U M I T A de libro
There is post-traumatic stress. There is compulsive obsession . There is antisocial personality disorder . And there is depression. Lots of depression.
Not us, but analyzes and books ( What's wrong with Batman? ) written by psychologists from a clinical point of view. Batman is a deeply unhappy person, who transforms emotional pain into a violent physical response.
He atones for his depression by giving hosts like bread to criminals.
From the outside, Batman is doing well. He becomes master of his life.
But behind closed doors he suffers the same desolation and emotional emptiness as any depressed person.
DON'T TALK, DON'T ASK
Un hombre inteligente, admirado por toda la sociedad, mazadísimo, puto CEO de una de las mayores corporaciones de Gotham, sofisticado, guapo, con toda la tecnología que el dinero puede comprar… y con una motherfuckin batcueva. ¿Quién no ha querido alguna vez ser Batman?
How many times have we admired the fact that he never (never) smiles ? He's a tough guy. He doesn't let anything affect him. A MAN in capital letters.
And the reality is that Batman doesn't smile because he's not happy. It never has been. And like him many other superheroes we admire. If DC gave all their characters a personal psychiatrist , would we still have comics?
But we didn't even think about that... It doesn't happen to superheroes. It doesn't happen to 'successful' people. It can't happen to people like us, normal.
If it happens... it is because we are wrong; It's that we are defective. And then, the best thing is to keep quiet lest someone notice us.
In many ways, men have applied the same policy with mental health that the US military has with homosexuality: don't ask, don't tell . Don't ask about her, don't talk about her.
DISMANTLING THE “STRONG MAN”
A “new” positive masculinity
Masculinity, as an idea, has fallen far behind when it comes to mental health. It is time to change the paradigm about what being a man, being strong, implies in this regard.
It is time for men to also embrace "self-care", an area where awareness has changed a long time ago among women and where we, with all the delay we have... can/should enter.
Because being strong does not mean being silent, sulking and then going out to distribute hosts to the bad guys... but opening up; It is not repressing yourself, but accepting your weaknesses and embracing them; It's not about not smiling, it's about assuming that you also have a range of emotions.
It is, in short, being less like Batman. That Batman is #fuckingfatal.
And when you are sick, you ask for help through your mouth. He doesn't fight crime dressed as a bat.
PS: and without the intention of mixing churras with merinos, this week's post is sponsored by our Heroes' Recharging Mask , ideal for a little time of self-care, from loving yourself to loving yourself a lot. 🖤
HEROES' RECHARGING MASK
Pack of 4 hydrogel facial masks with a battery-recharging effect. It hydrates, refreshes, helps with pimples and reduces wrinkles and hangovers from the previous day.
Siwon
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