The Emotional Double Bind That’s Crushing Men’s Mental Health

Let’s get something straight: Men aren’t broken.
They’re boxed in.

They’re boxed in by a culture that demands emotional intelligence from men while simultaneously ridiculing them for showing it. A culture that preaches vulnerability but punishes it with shame, labels, and character assassination.

If you're a man, you've heard the contradictions:

Man expresses anger = Toxic
Man expresses fear = Coward
Man expresses sadness = Weak
Man expresses emotion = Simp
Man shares no emotion = Heartless
Man likes younger women = Predator
Man sets boundaries = Insecure
Man has standards = Misogynist

There’s no way to win in this system.
Not without losing something else—your dignity, your clarity, your voice.

You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone

Men are exhausted—not because they’re emotionally stunted, but because they’re constantly recalculating how to show up in a world that doesn’t know what it wants from them.

Speak up? You’re aggressive.
Shut up? You’re emotionally unavailable.
Show love? You’re soft.
Guard your heart? You’re cold.

So what happens?
Men start shutting down. Or lashing out. Or numbing out.
And then society wonders why so many men are either snapping, isolating, or burning out under the surface.

This Isn’t Just Frustrating — It’s Dangerous

• Men die by suicide nearly 4 times more often than women.

• Men are less likely to seek therapy, but more likely to suffer in silence.

• Men are more prone to substitute emotional regulation with overwork, overdrinking, overcompensating.

And yet, the world keeps blaming the individual man.
The symptoms? We criminalize them.
The struggle? We mock it.
The silence? We call it stoic—until it becomes deadly.

Therapy Isn’t for the Weak. It’s for the Fed Up.

At Common Man Therapy, I don’t do fluff.
You won’t be told to hug your inner child or do yoga under moonlight.

Instead, I help men understand how society has conditioned them to bury their emotional lives—and how to dig them back up in a way that works.

I help men:

• Recognize emotional patterns without shame

• Build practical tools to manage their stress

• Reclaim their authority in their own lives

If you’re pissed off, good. That means you’re finally paying attention.

You’re Not the Problem (But You Do Need a Plan).

The truth is simple:

The system failed men.
But healing isn’t about blame—it’s about building better. For yourself. For the people who count on you. For the man you’re trying to become.

You don’t need to explain yourself to everyone.
But you do need a place where you’re not judged for doing the work.
That’s what this practice is for.

Let’s Get to Work

If you’re ready to step out of the box society put you in,
If you’re done carrying shame for things you didn’t do wrong,
If you’re ready to get clear, get grounded, and move forward—

Book a session.
Let’s put your anger to work.

📅 Schedule Now
👉 Eric Astleford - Psychotherapy