October 2023 - April 2024. Leader of the group: R. Grikšienė.
As society faces socio-cultural challenges, issues such as mental health, addiction and suicide risks, are gaining increasing attention. Although anxiety disorders and depression are diagnosed twice as often in women as in men, over ¾ of the more than 43,000 suicides in the EU each year are committed by men, and in Lithuania, male suicides are about four times more common than female suicides. Mental well-being is strongly influenced by a person's individual biological (age, gender, hormones) and socio-emotional characteristics. The common perception that emotionality is an 'unmanly' trait may have an impact on men's tendency to repress their emotions, more pronounced inability to recognise and describe their own emotions, their reluctance to communicate negative experiences, and even on their negative attitudes towards psychological support. In addition, testosterone and estrogen have been found to be associated with emotion processing and empathy, and the hormones released during stress can both improve and worsen emotion recognition and/or expression.
The results of this study may contribution to the fundamental knowledge of the interactions between the factors studied and have practical applications in the development of targeted interventions to improve men's mental well-being. Increased attention to factors related to men's emotional well-being can make a significant contribution to addressing global challenges such as discrimination, suicide, public safety and old age.
The Research Council of Lithuania, Agreement No. P-ST-23-309, 2023 10 – 2024 05