Editorial
Men Have Feelings Too
Men don’ t clog up GP waiting rooms, but tend to be over-represented at EDs on a Friday and Saturday night. Are men the worst or best patients?
There isn’ t a lot of excitement out there about men’ s health, except for some disease-specific areas. Using stereotypes, you could be forgiven for thinking that men are defined by their libido, their mental health, their earning capacity and not much else. Where does this come from and should we be frowning?
Depending on their age, of course, the sexuality of men is a major driver for their health and social prowess. Even young newly-married men like to fantasise about playing the field, energies they divert to nurturing when offspring arrive. Older men are walking prostates and erectile dysfunction if the lay press and the Internet are anything to go by.
A subversive theory is that for our cashstrapped health system, men are the perfect patient group. Believing they are bullet proof, they present late with health problems and have a low-key fix-it approach to putting things right. Then it’ s back to work!
They keep a raft of marketing people employed with the task of enticing men out of their cubby-holes to think preventive health. Blokey Pit-stop health checks and Merv Hughes enticing men to look at their tackle are the results. It’ s a hard ask for marketing because men refuse to define themselves in terms of their illness.
Males appear to be victims of their Y chromosomes. Testosterone has a way of rearing its ugly head. Wars are not fought by women( who are encouraged to rub it on to get a slice of the action). Men with testosterone to burn make up most of our sporting heroes, most of them admired for being competitive winners, not pussy team players. Although the media might be blamed for making instant celebrities out of these people, the quest for high performance is a predominant male trait.
The high performance male is evident in the young male doctor or patient, where both are better equipped for more demanding of good outcomes. Meanwhile, community violence increases and presents itself to EDs and elsewhere as road and biffo trauma.
The big picture is that national health is favourably influenced by male role models. This doesn’ t mean we should all get excited when Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Perth! People like Bill Gates( brain power and persistence) and Nelson Mandela( no compromise on principles) are important too. The myths of heroes on white horses and Aussie mates looking out for the underdog must not be replaced by recent memories of flawed men, whether wayward priests or corrupt stockbrokers. Men are what they do.
How we commend successful males is very important to men’ s health. �
Any thoughts on men’ s health? Scan the QR Code to be directed to the website or email editor @ mforum. acom. au.
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