Relationships are Cornerstone for Healthy Men

Close relationships can form the cornerstone for a man’s whole life but friendships with other men are also an important source of support and understanding, says the Adelaide Northern Division of General Practice.

In a handout prepared for Mens Health Week, the ANDGP recommends men need at least three other close friends and mates who they can talk to and feel comfortable sharing their lives.

Healthy relationships are not limited to those men have with their wives, partners and family, but also the ability to talk man to man to a close friend is one of the important planks of health and longevity.

“Often the harder something is to talk about the better you will feel when you finally express it,’’ says ANDGP board chairman, Dr Simon Hall.

The value of friendship is self-esteem is often usurped by the importance of the primary relationship, but the Australian Men’s Shed Association believes community-based Men’s Shed groups provide a valuable place for men to build on mateship and fulfil some important emotional needs.

The broader the ripple effect that men have built for themselves beyond the nucleus of family, the better equipped they will be to overcome conflicts and stresses – the other side of every healthy relationship, says ANDGP.

“Being able to handle and deal with these differences is part of establishing and maintaining a healthy relationship and part of being a man,’’ Dr Hall, a northern suburbs GP, says maintaining good relationships builds a stronger mental attitude and resilience.

 By NADINE WILLIAMS

Contact Mensline Australia on 1300 78 99 78.

Be Sociable, Share!

1 Comment to “Relationships are Cornerstone for Healthy Men”

  1. By Jim Binder, 26/06/2010 @ 2:19 pm

    Great article Nadine. In working with older men I have seen that once men finish work there is a tendency for a percentage of men to become socially isolated. Their world had evolved around ther work and family and they dont seem to have the ‘knack’ of creating friendships as well as the ladies.

    This is where it is so important that they do get involved with community programs, community centres, sporting clubs etc and find an activity that they love to do that also gives them that social contact.

    Exercise that grey matter by trying something new.

    I had been encouraging my father over a long period of tim to join a mens group in the country and had primed him up ready to go when a cose friend of his (who had been encouraging my father to join him at the group) unfortunately passed away.
    I was glad when in speaking to him the other day he said he had gone on a trip with the
    group and he had met another gentleman that had known my dad’s friend well (they had not met before) and they had clicked. Dad told me he is looking forward to going again.

    It takes time and effort to make friends – but it is so important to our long term well-being.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a Reply to Jim Binder