There are a variety of reasons why we as modern men experience issues like poor mental health and hormone deficiencies that previous generations did not. These reasons can help us develop an understanding of where we went wrong in society and how to prevent things from becoming worse. This is why modern men are weaker than our ancestors:
Overexpression of Emotions
To be perfectly clear, it’s not that men should not express their emotions at all, because that would also lead to problems. It’s that there is a push for expressing them regularly, and that’s a call for concern. Men nowadays are taught, especially from female figures in their life, that crying (for instance) every time they feel the urge to is a good thing. The truth is that many scenarios call for breakdowns in life, but the essence of a man and masculinity as a whole is to compose himself and think rationally – so finding ways to control your emotional urges will help capitalize on that essence.
At the very least, if a man chooses to break down consistently, he should consult a therapist or a close male friend while doing it. That way you are either getting professional, practical advice or a different male perspective. This will ensure there is something that can be done about the problem at hand and that you don’t become any weaker than you might be. Otherwise, find healthy ways on your own to channel your emotions. Physical activity and artistic expressions are good examples.
To put it into perspective, our ancestors didn’t have the luxuries and resources we have today. Centuries ago, there were no professionals available because the culture didn’t stress mental health as a necessity. It was just a given that a man was properly aligned because survival and procreation were top of mind. Emotional release was not an option as his community would have viewed him as inferior, so he would have likely had to find physical outlets to relieve tension.
This would have strengthened resilience and translated into more masculine body language, communication styles and general behavior. It also cannot be ignored that this all stemmed from testosterone levels (a byproduct of the previously mentioned mindset), which were drastically higher than ours today. Biologically, this is the main reason why modern men are weaker than their ancestors and will be spoken of more later.
Accessibility to Everything
The twenty first century has proven the world now has a set of problems that are disguised as solutions. In other words, it seems great that you can entertain yourself through Netflix and social media, have fast food delivered to your door whenever you have a craving or get off to a naked woman from your phone whenever you’re horny. That’s what these quick fixes are designed to make you think.
But how is it that we are now living in the most peaceful time in human history with an abundance of resources, yet have mental health, weight and hormonal problems like never before? It’s the lack of effort associated with all of these “solutions” that is messing with your mind, brain and body.
The reward circuitry in your brain that governs dopamine is only experienced in a healthy way if the effort put into something matches the level of pleasure felt afterwards. Putting in little to no effort for a sexual release through a porn site, for instance, disrupts the natural dopaminergic process inside of you (especially if done habitually).
The consequences of this are arguably most felt through your mental health in the form of a fractured self-image and depressed thinking. Neurotic thinking is often associated with low testosterone in men, not to mention a further depletion of it through the actual acts of watching porn or eating junk food. If boys and men are not consistently putting in hard work for at least one thing that is rewarding, it’s no wonder we’re labelled as weaker than our ancestors.
Technological advancements through human innovation have completely changed the game. Ancestrally, quick fixes were nonexistent. Men once had to hunt to find food, but even more recently, they had to physically get off their asses to buy it. They had to be bold and approach women the natural way in order to have sex. They had to entertain themselves through card games or physical outlets. Men had less but lived more. Past behavior as a result of less human innovation can also help explain why modern men are weaker than them.
Pharmaceutical Intervention
As an extension to the earlier point about overexpression of men’s emotions, the pharmaceutical industry acts as a shoulder to lean on. Modern psychiatrists are trained to diagnose neurotic thinking patterns as disorders. Of course, there are scenarios where professional intervention is necessary, particularly when it boils down to life or death. But in less extreme circumstances, these people still have the power to convince you there’s something wrong with your brain. If they’re successful with this, you can easily be persuaded to use drugs as a crutch.
You might know men who take pharmaceuticals (with varying degrees of success). You probably heard people talk about them on social media, or have seen ads for them on the internet. We now live in a society where lab-produced chemicals, as far away from the natural world as you can get, are used as solutions for depressed, anxious, paranoid or compulsive thinking. Whether it’s trivial or not.
It’s done deliberately to create overly docile men who have to rely on medicine to get by, and generate revenue for the pharmaceutical industry. Once the reliance is there, you’re then prone to unnatural experiences that make you weaker than you otherwise would have been.
Whether you’re a child, teenager or adult, these medications will alter your brain and body chemistry. Antidepressants and anxiety medications, for example block your reuptake of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that governs mood, cognition, reward processing, learning, memory and various psychological processes. This allows for above-average serotonin availability to be passed between nerve cells. However, as per the National Library of Medicine, “During long-term SSRI therapy, the most troubling adverse effects are sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and sleep disturbance.”
Since depression and anxiety are the most commonly reported mental health issues in the western world, the implications of its treatments are concerning for the boys and men taking them. A lack of libido is associated with testosterone deficiency, as is weight gain and poor sleeping patterns. This means that the medications intended to help are doing more harm than good with regards to general health. A major contributor to the weaknesses that twenty first century males are associated with.
Prior to the advent and normalization of SSRIs in the 1980’s, boys and men alike had to find alternative methods of treating mood problems. There was no chemical intervention in their brains and bodies. It’s possible that this would help to account – among other factors – for the drop in testosterone levels of about 1% per year since the previously mentioned decade in the U.S.
Bessel van der Kolk speaks of the truth about this industry in his book, The Body Keeps the Score. His book is primarily about deep trauma and its psychological impacts in later life, but his insights on pharmacology are eye-opening. For more information about it or to look for any book of interest to you, try out Audible. With a subscription you have unlimited access to thousands of select Audible originals, podcasts and audiobooks. Take advantage of your first 30 days free here.
Closing Thoughts
Taking this all into consideration, it would be wise for you to not rely on what is considered an easy fix nowadays. Otherwise, the consequences will continue to prove the stark contrast between men in the modern day versus older generations and further ancestors. If we’re conscious of what we think and do, we won’t be weaker than them. Les Brown once said, “If you do what is easy your life will be hard. But if you do what is hard your life will be easy.”
Sources
- Ferguson, James M. SSRI Antidepressant Medications: Adverse Effects and Tolerability. National Library of Medicine. 2001 Feb; 3(1): 22–27. DOI: 10.4088/pcc.v03n0105.
- Howe, Neil. You’re Not The Man Your Father Was. Forbes. 02/10/2017.