Men’s Health Week: When was your last MOT?

This week is Men’s Mental Health Week bringing awareness to the health issues that affect men all over the world and more importantly getting men to talk about their health problems or gain the courage to talk.

“Man up”, “put your big boy pants on”, “real men don’t cry”, we’ve heard all the clichés, I know I have, but that is not the case and doesn’t need to be. Over the past few years, we have been through a lot from COVID-19 to the cost of living to rocket inflation so it’s time for men everywhere to start looking after their health and ask am I ok? Ask themselves how is my mental health? And how is my physical health?

Men have always been hesitant to admit that something is wrong or if something is worrying them which is just a fact and reality, and with the restrictions of the past couple of years it has been more difficult to see a medical professional in person so more men have not talked about their problems and have ignored potentially serious illnesses or just hoped they would go away.

The first step is a MOT, we take our cars for a MOT but when was the last time you had one? Not sure? Not sure how to do it? Men’s Health Forum provides some great info on what to do and also some further info on  MOTs for the body and for the mind.

To help us men feel better, physically and mentally, we can use the CAN DO Challenge to find different ways to improve our wellbeing:

Connect – connect with people, communicate, whether it’s a coffee with an old friend or quick text just reach out

Active – be active, increasing your physical activity is proven to make you feel better and also improves your health from walking to swimming to golf or going for run just get active

Notice – notice the environment around you, turn that mobile off and step away from your emails or box set for an hour and just enjoy your environment

Discover – as men we are inquisitive things so learn something new, take up a new hobby, read a book you haven’t read before or learn about a new topic

Offer – do something for someone else and use your time to help others, from cutting your neighbours grass to volunteering, just spending a little of your free time doing something for others can have a huge impact on your wellbeing.

 Beyond this week it’s important as men we continue to ask ourselves am I ok? It’s even more important to talk, talk about our wellbeing and how we’re feeling. By being aware of our wellbeing and by giving ourselves that MOT we can live healthier and longer.