I'm really concerned about men's mental health

When I was dating my ex I had a bad depressive episode. I always had to hide those emotions because most of my exes only liked me when I was the goofy fun person. I thought my woke, socialist GF was better than that so I told her about how bad things were for me. She broke up with 3 weeks later. She sent me a "we need to talk text message" the day before my finals. I was quitting my abusive job so I could spend more time with her as my job was responsible for my mental health. She called me insane. I never heard from her again, her dad and best friend never reached out to me. I had a good realtioship with her parentsand I thought I was friends with her friends.

I'm taking a break from dating until I'm ready. I'm a very emotional person and my exes saw that as weakness. Sexism is so ingrained in our society that a man who steps out of the normative narrative of gender roles is often seen as weak by some women.

The end of that relationship was particularly hard under the circumstances because I really thought I found someone who is politically and emotionally aligned to me. Nevertheless, I will never stop loving the way I know how to love, I will never hide my emotions and act with toxic stoic masculinity in order to impress anyone. I'm me, I'm worth loving, I dance and I cook, my emotions run hot when I believe in something and I'm fiercely loyal, I write poems from my heart, I cry when I feel like it and without shame. I love completely and without question. I'm bound to find someone who'll be like.." yeah, that's cool with me". That's not to say that I haven't thought of hiding my emotions away so I'm not perceived as "too much" but is a constant battle of personality reaffirmation.

/r/TrueOffMyChest Thread