City officials, activists support Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of harming themselves, please call 911. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text “WYO” to 741-741 on the crisis Text line.

CASPER, Wyo. – Oil field people. Gas field men. Tough men. Men with mental illness. Men with substance abuse problems. Men with suicidal thoughts.

Dead men.

Keisha Ann, who has spent most of her life working in the oil and gas industry, has gotten to know many of them despite the grit and sweat, she said Wednesday.

Their pain emerges when they become alcoholics and abusers of other substances and when the severity of their mental health requires treatment at the Wyoming Institute for Behavioral Health, she said.

Some do not overcome their pain, she added.

Ann wanted to do something about it.

On Tuesday, she did.

She and three others — community activist Elissa Campbell, Casper Police Chief Keith McPheeters and Casper Fire Chief Jacob Black — approached the Casper City Council to talk about Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month at the regular council meeting in its temporary chambers at The Lyric, 230 W. Yellowstone Highway.

McPheeters said many men this year have already completed suicide or had suicidal thoughts.

In discussions about suicide, men are underrepresented and need more resources, and the police department wants to raise awareness to help men with coping mechanisms, he said.

Black said the Casper Fire-EMS Department is happy to bring this to light because he has seen many among his male-dominated fire forces who simply brush off anything that bothers them or just “take it on the chin” and continue.

“We are working to change that culture,” he said. “We have to look out for our people to make sure they don’t slip through the cracks and they’re hurting themselves.”

Mayor Steve Cathey then read a proclamation declaring June as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month to encourage men to speak up and seek help.

“Men are far less likely than women to seek help because of the unique challenges men face in dealing with mental health, societal expectations and mental health stigma,” Cathey said.

Women are diagnosed with depression twice as often as men, but suicide data show that the suicide rate tends to be four times higher for men than women, he said.

“Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death in men,” he said.

“Stigma, societal expectations, and stereotypes of masculinity often result in men self-treating through addictive behaviors such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling, self-destructive activities, and increased intimate partner abuse,” Cathey said.

Casper recognizes the need to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and promote a culture of openness and support for struggling men, he said.

Finally, Cathey called on Casper residents to “prioritize their mental and physical well-being, listen to the men in their lives, and actively share information and resources to support each other.”

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In the June 2019 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Stephen Rodrick wrote “All-American Despair,” which told the story of suicide among middle-aged white men in the Rocky Mountain Region. It began with the suicide of Casper resident and hotshot driver Toby Lingle, and explored the Western cultural influences of toughness, independence, isolation and guns.

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