MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH IN CAMEROON AMIDST SOCIETAL PRESSURES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhgyan.v4.i1.2026.85Keywords:
Traditional Masculinity Norms, Emotional Suppression, Men’s Mental Health, Cameroon, Barriers to Help SeekingAbstract [English]
In sub-Saharan Africa Men’s mental health still remains one of the least addressed dimensions of public health in, despite its silent but rapidly growing burden on individuals, families, and communities. Through this study we explored how the myth of masculinity with its traditional expectations of emotional suppression and provision alongside socio-economic factors intersect to shape the psychological well-being of men in Cameroon. Pulling inspiration from some of the lyrical narratives of Daniel Nwosu Jr. (Dax)’s songs; particularly “From a man’s perspective,” “Lonely dirt road,” and “To be a man”, this paper conducts a thematic analysis that connects artistic expression and poetry with psychosocial constructs such as provider-role strain, internalized emotional control, and social isolation.
This conceptual analysis examines how societal expectations of strength, provision, and emotional stoicism contribute to or amplify stress, anxiety, and depressive tendencies among men, while being a barrier to open communication and help-seeking within the Cameroonian socio-cultural context. These lyrical insights are examined in relation to empirical research on emotional suppression and health consequences (Chapman et al., 2013; Tyra, 2024), economic stress (Ridley et al., 2020), barriers to help seeking and traditional masculinity norms in African sociocultural contexts (Ezeugwu, 2020; Baranov et al., 2024). We integrate Cameroonian health-system data and suicide case series (Keugoung et al., 2013; WHO, 2020) to highlight gaps in efficiency and masculine vulnerability. Findings underline that normative expectations of stoicism and financial provision amplify stress, inhibit help-seeking, and contribute to elevated risks of depression and suicide. Policy amendments include culturally sensitive mental health interventions, a re-evaluation of harmful masculine norms in the Cameroonian context, promoting gender-sensitive outreach, integrating mental-health care into primary care systems, and addressing economic determinants of distress. This study bridges art, psychology, and sociology as an interdisciplinary synthesis to illuminate men’s lived mental-health struggles in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Tatamentan Derek Nying
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