05/06/2025
๐ฝ๐ค๐ฎ๐จ ๐ฟ๐ค ๐พ๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ
"สสแด, สแดแด ษขแดแดแด
?"
"Yeah bro, why?" you replied with teary eyes, you get the masculine urge to disappear and cut ties with your homies. "Boys don't cry!" You tell yourself. For the longest time, we misunderstood silence as strength, and bottling up emotions as keeping it together.
Letโs face it: society has this unspoken rulebook for men, and on page one it says, โCrying is not allowed. Man up.โ By page two, itโs already telling boys that silence is strength and emotions are a malfunction. Well, consider this the month we rip those pages out. The truth is, guys get overwhelmed. They overthink. They burn out. They cry in the shower at 2 a.m. while pretending the shampoo got in their eyes. Some call it โbrooding.โ Others call it โcharacter development.โ But at its core, itโs mental strainโand it needs to be taken seriously.
Now, donโt get it twisted. Menโs mental health isnโt just about crying (though crying is totally valid, even if it's during a Pixar movie). Itโs also about recognizing stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout without brushing it off as โpagod lang โto.โ Itโs about reminding boysโyes, even the ones who act tough and never show emotionโthat theyโre allowed to FEEL without apologizing for it. And yes, we know some of them would rather fight off emotions like itโs the final boss level in a video game. But healing isnโt weakness and vulnerability isnโt defeat.
So what can we actually do this month (and beyond)?
Check in on your guy friends without waiting for them to break down first. Talk to your classmates, brothers, partnersโwith real curiosity, not just โKamusta?โ followed by โSige, ingat.โ Normalize the stuff that shouldnโt be taboo anymore. Therapy? Not weird. Venting? Necessary. Crying? Againโyes, even while watching One Piece. Letโs start treating menโs mental health with the same energy we give to memes about breakups and gym gains. Because behind every โSigma Boysโ is probably someone carrying more than what they admit.
This Menโs Mental Health Month, the message is simple:
โ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ข ๐ค๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐๐ฌ๐๐ค๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ค๐. ๐๐๐จ ๐ค๐, ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐๐ข ๐ซ๐จ๐๐จ๐ญ.โ So yeah. Boys do cry sometimes.
And reallyโthatโs more than okay.
Check up on your bro's, cry with them if you have to, because at the end of the day, sympathy sets us apart from this world, that alone makes usโ humans.
โ๐ป: C I B A
Illustrated by: Hannah Codilla
