Citing studies showing that adult men are more likely to underestimate their emotional problems and avoid seeking help, the John Tung Foundation on Monday urged men to redefine masculinity, and face and seek help for their problems.
The foundation cited Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics on the top causes of death in the nation last year, which showed that suicides by men were about double that of women, and Bureau of National Health Insurance data from 2015, which showed that less than 10 percent of men sought treatment at psychiatry departments or clinics.
A 2015 Australian study suggested that men with depression have a greater tendency to deal with it on their own rather than seek professional treatment, the foundation said, adding that the research concluded that many men with long-term depression had underestimated their problems and the need to seek help.
The research found that the notions of having to take control and being self-reliant were obstacles for men to seek professional assistance, it said.
“The majority of men with depression are used to underestimating or neglecting their problems, and only seek help when symptoms become very obvious,” foundation mental health center director Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨) said.
In traditional culture, people think that men should have characteristics such as being strong or unyielding, and view those who seek help as weak or having no other choice, so men mostly prefer to talk about their achievements rather than their frustrated feelings or negative emotions, she said.
A new concept of masculinity should be established to encourage men to face their emotional problems and actively seek help to solve them, she added.
Family members can help those who exhibit depressive tendencies by showing care and asking how they are doing, as well as inviting them to outdoor social activities, Yeh said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods