International Men’s Day 2025: Why Indian Men Are Struggling Silently With Their Mental Health

Men’s Day 2025: “Sometimes, the bravest thing a man can do is simply say: I'm not okay.” Step into any Indian home and you will notice the same picture, men who look tired, stressed, distant or buried in their routine. Many of them are silently carrying emotional pain that they don’t share with anyone, not even with the people they claim to ‘love’. It’s a pattern repeated across the country. Men suffer far more than they will ever admit and seek help far less than they need. From childhood to adulthood, Indian boys grow into men who learn to hide their fears, choke back their tears and shoulder responsibilities without complaint. As there was always one cultural message delivered to them that a “real man” should be strong, unshakeable and in control. But beneath that surface, the loneliness epidemic is growing. 

Silence Begins in Childhood and Follows Men Into Adulthood

As Bhakti Joshi, a Psychologist from Samarpan Mental Health explains that for many men, emotional silence starts early in life. Boys grow up hearing that “crying is shameful, fear a weakness, and problems are to be solved, not discussed.” As they step into adulthood, this becomes “a kind of emotional armor in which disappointment is swallowed, fear is hidden, grief is buried, and one moves on.”

She also notes that stigma continues to keep men away from support, with many believing that seeking help equals defeat. They think that sharing their feelings will make them look weak.  And when emotions stay buried too long, they eventually leak out and in men mostly as anger, withdrawal, drinking, health issues or even self-harm. 

Men Have Been Conditioned to Believe That Suppressing Emotions Is Strength

Men are trained to bury their emotions and not express, to drink their tears but not share. Zalak Nandu, a Psychologist Mpower Aditya Birla Education Trust points out that referring to helpline data they took, 62% of over 1.22 lakh calls came from men, and 86% of these were young and middle-aged men between 18 and 40. Many were dealing with relationship issues, depression, and stress.

Nandu says this shows how deeply men have been conditioned to hide emotional pain, they seek help only when the pressure becomes unbearable. If men were encouraged to talk earlier, a lot of emotional suffering could be prevented.

The pressure on men is not just external, it becomes internal. Many don’t even know how to name their emotions because no one ever taught them the language for it. Their friendships rarely offer emotional space. Their families expect resilience, not vulnerability. And society rewards sacrifice and not honesty.

But if men are struggling, and which statistics, behavior, and lived experiences show that they are then silence cannot be the answer anymore. They need to stop pretending that they are unbreakable. Emotional pain is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of being human. Change will take time but it begins with simple honesty.