How to live a meaningful life: 4 expert tips, from purpose to mattering, and how finding meaning in life can enhance mental resilience
- Psychology professor and popular YouTuber John Vervaeke says purpose, coherence, significance and mattering are key to having a truly meaningful existence
- November’s Movember movement raises awareness of men’s health and serves as a reminder that more than three-quarters of global suicides are by men
It’s November, the month in which the Movember movement raises awareness of men’s physical and mental health issues.
We are reminded that, across the world, about 77 per cent of suicides are by men.
With fewer coping mechanisms than women and weak support networks, men are more vulnerable and easily overwhelmed by feelings of desperation and hopelessness. Many men live lives devoid of meaning.
Meaning is powerful and a perceived lack of it can have serious negative effects on a person’s health.
A recent study by researchers at McGill University and the University of British Columbia, both in Canada, examined the connection between the presence of meaning in life and mental health difficulties among men.
The study, in which 364 men took part, concluded that those men who reported having a greater sense of meaning in their lives were considerably less likely to have symptoms of depression, anxiety and despair.
