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The world is on fire but don't worry I'm not going to give you bad news week after week. Despite the shitstorm we're experiencing, some good things keep happening as well. This week, researchers from The Nature Conservancy released their research on Hawai'i's coral reefs and good news: the coral reefs that experienced a massive bleaching in 2014 and 2015 are now healing! They found that the corals that were healing the quicker were the ones with limited exposure to humans, shocking right. Read more about these wonders of nature.

Ever wonder how meat became such a staple in our lives and diets? Turns out Victorians are all to blame. The global mass-meat industry as we know it today took its first steps in Britain. It revolutionized the British diet and how the rest of the world consumed meat. Read about the fascinating story of how 'big meat' came to be.

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Male mental health epidemic: The nature of inner pain

Solutions

Written by
Jordan O'Boyle

on
16 May 2022

What haunts you when you hear about someone close committing suicide? Is it the manner: the bottle of pills, the noose, a fall? For me, it is the depths of the pain, the darkness and inner fragility they felt. When our mental health is affected, it is an insidious poison that can hide behind a smile. And when it comes to its most severe conclusion, the statistics show that it’s men who fall victim most.

Why are men affected more?

Technically, men aren’t affected more by mental health issues and there is no significant difference between the genders. So, why the shocking difference in mortality rates? Whilst the issues may be the same, how they manifest themselves is different.

“Man up."

Societal differences are a contributing factor in how men differ when dealing with their issues. The mantra of “Man up” has been hotly contested over the last decade, which has seen a rise in men seeking help. However, there is still an indoctrinated sense that seeking help is a show of weakness when society dictates that men should be self-reliant and stoic. Traditionally, this has repressed men from seeking or even admitting to needing help.

‘I don’t like crying. I’m a country boy, and we’re the product of our upbringing. As a boy, I was told that men don’t cry.’Andrea Bocelli.

The perception of male strength is tied to the notion that we don’t show emotion. In the recent past, this cultural stigma has created a barrier in seeking help. Over the last couple decades, there has been a cultural shift. Willingness to access services has risen, “17 per cent of men said they would be likely to go to a counsellor or therapist to talk about their feelings if they were feeling worried or low for two weeks or more, as opposed to 22 per cent of women.” . Taken in 2019, this statistic shows a definite improvement from a decade ago that showed men were only half as likely to seek counselling or therapy. With campaigns and targeted awareness groups like ‘In your corner’ and ‘Ask Twice’, this suggests that there is more awareness and support for men to seek assistance. Yet, the percentage of male suicide has remained marginally the same.

A common notion of masculinity is economic stability, the ability to provide for their family. Is a man really a man if he can’t take care of his family? This is a strongly felt emotion within men and the inability to perform what’s perceived as a masculine trait, can create a sense of failure and shame. The Samaritans charity group found that “deprivation, financial insecurity and unmanageable debt are strongly associated with an increased risk of suicide in men.” Corroborating evidence of financial insecurity linked to an increase in suicide comes from The World Economic Forum, marked a 12% increase of suicide a year after the economic crash of 2008.

Again, this idea of the male role in society is a provocative issue, specially with the male paradigm shift in the last few decades. Many men are still coming to terms with this new cultural shift, you only need to look at any online debate about whether men should pay for the first date and the heated vitriol that follows; where do men now stand, what is their role and are they facing an identity crisis? Whilst signs of male mental health awareness are starting to increase, the tropes of traditional masculinity is definitely a reason men may avoid seeking help.

Coping mechanisms

Men are more likely than women to use or develop unhealthy coping mechanisms when dealing with mental health issues. From drinking alcohol to taking recreational drugs, men are statistically more likely to self-medicate using substances to deal with issues such as anxiety or feeling low. Along with a self-destructive method, substances can also compound anxieties and emotional trauma, leading to suicidal tendencies. Further to this study, we can’t ignore that whilst statistics of suicide are based solely on singular acts of attempts to end their life, should we also be looking at deaths caused through alcoholism or substance overdose?

Aggression in men is a lot more common when issues with stress are involved. Without healthy coping mechanisms to relieve mental health issues, aggression can sometimes lead to violence. (I must note that aggression is very different to violence. A person can be aggressive by nature, but that doesn’t make them violent). Violence is not acceptable in our society, yet I believe that care must be taken about criminalising acts of violence, rather than treating causes behind certain acts. There is a fine-line between intended violence and moments of anger, underlined by stress, which lead to violence. I believe that a more comprehensive mental health awareness program would alleviate many cases where men are criminalised, rather than treated, for underlying issues.

Impact of Social Media

Social Media has a massive influence within our society. There is now more information than ever, streamed direct through our phones for direct consumption. Great, right? The new age of online presence has the absurd ability to make both positive and negative effects on mental health for both genders. Many helpful platforms that truly help connect people and are accessible at the end of our fingertips, such as manhealth and other similar platforms, have made a huge impact for men who may want to speak anonymously and privately about their mental health. The statistics demonstrate that more men are utilising these platforms, and using social media to highlight male mental health issues.

David Napthine wrote 6 original screenplays about the symptoms of depression and how they affect the everyday aspects of “Geoff’s” life. Online awareness has been a positive influence for men seeking help online.

On the flip side, there are adverse effects to an online media presence; connection may be the mantra, but it’s anger and controversy that sells.

Frances Haugen, former employee of Facebook’s civic misinformation team, has released tens of thousands of documents, showing how Facebook’s algorithm will push a negative format on its readers, and keep us reading the hateful, divisive and polarising content; but, why? Because anger and hate definitely sells. It is an unfortunate side to an algorithm that amplifies the worst of human nature into our daily feed.

“There were conflicts of interests of what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook.”

More often than not, young men are also dealing with the negative aspects of a life within social media. These platforms are easy to present a “best life” façade to the world. Whilst this may be useful or inspiring to some, to others it can lead to a negative comparative situation, from body image to fiscal insecurities. These feeds are constant, which subversively makes us consume more. From increased feelings of loneliness, isolation, and even decreased empathy, current research indicates that young adults - the most active social media users - are at a higher risk of developing mental health issues.

With social media being so pivotal within our society, it is implausible to cut off completely from negative cycles, yet self-regulation is key. It is strange to conceive, but social media is very addictive platform and there has to be cut off points, to disengage from a virtual presence.

Statistics show that a male mental health epidemic is a global issue, with cases of suicide almost 3x that of women in many countries. I’ve outlined several reasons why men are affected more, yet the complex nature of mental health requires more than just an article; there is no quick fix to a state of mind. We need to speak about this more, and not just online. There needs to be an ingrained narrative that accepting feelings of anxiety or stress and talking about these issues must be normalised, not kept hidden behind a smile or stiff upper lip.

So, what can we do?

The most important part of mental health is to practise self-care. This seems an obvious statement, yet it is surprising how often we neglect to take care of ourselves. There are simple methods, such as diet and exercise, or simply taking time to enjoy a hobby. Yet we can also create boundaries in our lives, and feel okay to say no to a situation we are not comfortable with. Being a role model for your own mental health is key to setting an example for helping others and making mental health a part of our everyday lives.

This story features:

Mental health / social media

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Explained: Kinder Cause Areas

Kinder

Written by
Behdokht Hosseini

on
10 May 2022

What is a cause?

In our evaluation framework, we specify a cause area(s) each charity is active in. We define “cause” as ‘’a particular set of problems’’, a concern, or opportunities that a charity is working on.

At Kinder, we have decided to have 13 different cause areas (shown in the following figure). In our database, we have charities that are active in one or more cause areas.

Why do we put charities into different ‘cause categories’?

The distinction of cause areas for charities becomes essential when comparing the evaluation result of one charity with another. The nature of challenges, obstacles, problems, and limitations are specific to each cause.

As a result, when comparing a charity's state in terms of how it does within our evaluation framework, we take the cause areas they belong to as a parameter to make our comparison accurate and fair. In our Evaluation reports and Charity Zone, we compare the charity we report with peers that are active within the same cause area.

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Climate Solutions, the nonprofits Kinder applauds

Solutions

Written by
Behdokht Hosseini

on
21 April 2022

Despite a growing interest, climate is still a minor theme in philanthropy. Philanthropists have historically allocated relatively small sums to addressing the problem. Looking at our internal database of over 2500 studied charities and nonprofits across the globe, we have also noticed that climate action makes up a small proportion of charity sector attention. The following nonprofits are among a few that have made climate solutions their mission:

Rainforest Action Network, Citizens' Climate Lobby, Vereniging Milieudefensie, BRAC, Global Footprint Network, 350, Environmental Defense Fund, Practical Action, Conservation International Foundation, EarthJustice, ClientEarth, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Cool Earth Action.

What has made the above nonprofits unique to us, is not only the cause they are active in, but that they stand out in the pool of Kinder evaluation databases. Studies from our research team show that these nonprofits hold on to a high standard that determines trust and success. They transparently provide the public with open and crucial information about their projects via their websites and demonstrate their commitment to accountability by showing their key performance indicators.

Apart from the fact that these nonprofits are among the top ranking in our system, together, they conform to the Kinder’s mindset towards solving problems through collective efforts. This is the foundation of initiating and creating Kinder United Actions (UAs), initiatives to urge and endorse holistic solutions to tackle one problem.

Our UAs are built on three pillars: raising public awareness about the most pressing problems of our times, promoting holistic solutions, and empowering donors.

1- Raising public awareness. We inform individuals, large- and small-sized brands, about each problem based on facts, providing them with a fresh perspective on all dimensions of a problem.

2- Emphasising holistic solutions. We believe in system thinking when approaching a problem, bringing confidence in the power of a holistic approach and united contributions to tackle the same problem by our top- ranking nonprofits or charities.

3- Empowering donors to make educated giving decisions. Our wish is to nurture donors as holistic thinkers and call for concerned citizens to develop this mindset by keeping an eye on the big picture that a problem sits within. We ask our philanthropists to support a holistic strategy instead of a singular approach when making supporting decisions.

We aim to streamline the donation process and present charities and nonprofits to potential donors in an integrated way. United Actions showcase the strength of individual charities and nonprofits and educate donors and key beneficiaries on various dimensions of the issues.

We also aim to empower knowledge and restore donor trust and enthusiasm. We don’t stop at only promoting outstanding nonprofits and charities, we also help them become more transparent, effective and accountable. We evaluate them with our in-house framework that we developed in collaboration with academics from universities in the Netherlands and the UK, which we use to provide tailored feedback on how to improve. We see this as a long-term, sustainable collaboration. We also help brands connect to causes they care about, and ensure all services are free to nonprofits and charities.

You can find out more about Kinder here and our research sector here. Let’s connect.

For more insight about the nonprofits discussed above, please check the following table:

This article was written by Behdokht Hosseini, PhD, Head of Research & Development at Kinder. "Having a long-term curiosity for understanding human brain as the most sophisticated thinking entity, Behdokht did her Master and Doctorate in Neuroscience. Now at Kinder, she continues to have her quest for what makes humans impactful in their actions and interactions towards a more compassionate world"

This story features:

climate change / Solutions / Climate nonprofits

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Male mental health epidemic: The nature of inner pain

Explained: Kinder Cause Areas

What is a cause?

Why do we put charities into different ‘cause categories’?

Climate Solutions, the nonprofits Kinder applauds