I do think that boomers were one of the first generations to take a step in addressing it in some way. At least that is my impression from watching TV/movies; no boomers I was close to had the kind of income/insurance that would pay for therapists. Prior generations seem just have their men suffer in utter silence or be declared un-men.
I’m Gen X, I knew of a few people that were getting therapy/medication, but they were considered problem children by their parents/teachers/administrators. I don’t know if they continued, and I don’t know how many generations since have fared. I think there has been some efforts to shelter people more, but I don’t know what kind of coping mechanisms people have when mom and dad are no longer there to shield them from life.
There seems to be few healthy (group) outlets for men to really turn to, though. Lots of things seem to get sublimated into spending of one kind or another - working on cars/trucks, guns, grilling meat, golf, are deemed acceptable if done on the weekend. Maybe a little bit of games. But most of these activities tend to be rather surface. Men tend to have less friends than women, and they really encouraged to cultivate them, in my experience (and societal norms seem to reflect this and/or reinforce this from what I can tell).
Michael Moore pointed this out over two decades ago, even if it was not gendered - the mass decline in activities like bowling, civic engagement, etc…was quite evident long before the Columbine shooting…
I do think that boomers were one of the first generations to take a step in addressing it in some way. At least that is my impression from watching TV/movies; no boomers I was close to had the kind of income/insurance that would pay for therapists. Prior generations seem just have their men suffer in utter silence or be declared un-men.
I’m Gen X, I knew of a few people that were getting therapy/medication, but they were considered problem children by their parents/teachers/administrators. I don’t know if they continued, and I don’t know how many generations since have fared. I think there has been some efforts to shelter people more, but I don’t know what kind of coping mechanisms people have when mom and dad are no longer there to shield them from life.
There seems to be few healthy (group) outlets for men to really turn to, though. Lots of things seem to get sublimated into spending of one kind or another - working on cars/trucks, guns, grilling meat, golf, are deemed acceptable if done on the weekend. Maybe a little bit of games. But most of these activities tend to be rather surface. Men tend to have less friends than women, and they really encouraged to cultivate them, in my experience (and societal norms seem to reflect this and/or reinforce this from what I can tell).
Michael Moore pointed this out over two decades ago, even if it was not gendered - the mass decline in activities like bowling, civic engagement, etc…was quite evident long before the Columbine shooting…