No shame in asking for help: Men’s mental health in the Middle East and North Africa

The pressure to be brave

Men’s needs and realities in conflict and crisis settings are often overlooked. “Society expects a man as he grows up to be strong and brave—not to cry, express himself, or ask for help,” explained Rayan Badawi Najjar, MSF’s mental health supervisor in Tripoli, Lebanon. In the Middle East and North Africa region, many men not only face the intense stressors of direct violence, displacement, unemployment, detention, and torture, but the loss of their traditional roles as protectors and providers.

Samer*, a young man living in northern Lebanon, experienced many of these stressors firsthand: “My childhood was tragic. I had an accident and lost my hand. I felt discriminated against at school and dropped out, but I didn’t give up. I worked and started a family. With the financial crisis I lost everything, and anxiety began to eat away at me. When my daughter fell ill and I was overwhelmed with fear, I broke down.”

Difficult experiences like Samer’s can lead to mental health disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use, and aggression. In MSF’s Tripoli project, Najjar observed a troubling pattern: psychosis rates were far higher among men than women, at 9.5 percent compared to 1.5 for women. Even more alarming was that 18 percent of men reported thoughts of ending their lives or wishing for death, compared to 13 percent of women.

“We found that one of the main reasons men avoid mental health services is the stigma surrounding mental disorders, along with low awareness of mental health,” said Saddam Mohammed, an MSF mental health supervisor in Central Darfur, Sudan. “In society’s eyes, asking for help is seen as a sign of weakness or a flaw.”

In turn, many men only seek support when their condition becomes severe, or when their mental state has manifested in physical symptoms. This not only affects their own well-being but also their families and communities through increased domestic violence, disrupted parenting roles, and heightened community tensions and conflicts.

Personal journeys through therapy

Despite the stigma, at a certain point Samer decided he needed care. He sought mental health support from MSF and started attending therapy sessions. “By the second session, I started to feel a change and began looking forward to them,” he said.

Other men are breaking the pattern as well. Emad Murad, who is from Miryata in northern Lebanon, chose to confront a misconception that had shackled him for years: “There is no shame in mental health services, and they don’t undermine my dignity. It’s treatment no less important than care for the heart or diabetes.”

For support, Emad turned to MSF, which offers mental health as a core part of medical care, especially for people affected by conflict, violence, displacement, and crushing economic crises. From Lebanon to Gaza, Sudan, and Yemen, MSF offers individual and group psychological support to refugees and local communities experiencing these hardships while working to break the stigma and encourage people to seek help without fear or shame.

“There’s no shame in asking for help, and no shame in therapy,” said Mohammed Abakar Ahmed, who is from Sudan—a country ravaged by more than two years of ongoing war. “After I started treatment, I felt a big change. I used to neglect myself and hate work; now I feel energized and I enjoy my job.”

The impact of mental health care often extends beyond the individual, reaching families and communities. “Because my experience was positive, I brought my children and my brother to meet MSF’s mental health team,” said Emad.

Samer urges other men to seek mental health services, too. “The shame isn’t in getting treatment—it’s in reaching the point of collapse.” 

*Name has been changed.