Looking at the numbers on mental health in Brazil is especially aimed at a part of the population: men. They are among the main victims of psychological suffering that leads to death.
According to the Atlas of Violence, a survey carried out by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, in the state of São Paulo, approximately 78.8% of suicide cases occur with them. In Sorocaba (SP), the public health network registered more than 13 thousand psychological services from January to August 2026. Added to psychiatric services, this number represents an increase of 5% in the municipal network compared to the same period in the previous year.
An opportunity to confront this reality lies in demystifying the search for professional treatment and making people aware of the tools for caring for and preserving mental health. It is for this reason that campaigns such as Yellow September are gaining ground in different areas of society.
Dandriê Crestani is a psychologist and works daily with clinical care for people seeking professional help. He explains that for many men, the first step of recognizing the symptoms of mental illness is the biggest difficulty.
Social isolation, changes in mood and silence in the face of these afflictions are factors that increase the suffering of those who actually need specialized help.
"When we say that 80% of victims are male, we are obviously facing an issue that also involves the way men are socially taught to deal with suffering. Failure, loss, vulnerabilities... This is a cultural and collective issue, because throughout their lives many men learn that they need to be strong, independent, providers and capable of solving their own problems no matter what the cost", he comments.
The psychologist warns: "The person may be going through, for example, a very serious financial problem, some considerable loss within the family or a professional failure. And then, instead of seeking help, they will try to bear it all alone. This is how we have the beginning and the home of all suffering."
The result is the sequence of psychic illness. Changes in sleep, substance abuse, impulsive and compulsive behaviors, are some of the symptoms.
Generational change
Rodrigo Pierobon, psychologist and coordinator of the Psychology course at Faculdade Anhanguera, indicates that he sees a positive change in this behavior among the younger community.
"We are going through a transformation in society, which will take a few good years, but this is being demystified. This is largely due to two main points of transformation. Firstly, we had a very big change in legislation, forcing companies to address the issue of mental health within the workplace. And also today, from a very young age, children already hear about mental health, about the importance of talking about feelings", he points out.
Jean Camargo, now 22 years old, is an example of this change. The young man says that his first contact with therapy was when he was nine years old. "In my house it was never taboo. I underwent monitoring during my childhood and then, when I got older, I wanted to return on my own, precisely because it was always valued."
In addition to support at home, Jean also mentions that in her groups of friends, she notices an ease in discussing mental health and recognizing professional listening.
"At school, it wasn't really a recurring topic, but every opportunity I had, I talked about my experience. Later, in college, at least three friends were also in therapy, and we talked about it", he says.
Unlike Jean, Sergio Pena, 26 years old, comes from an experience that is no exception. In his home, the example was a more common scenario in Brazilian reality: "My father also doesn't talk much about the things he thinks or about how he feels in general. And I've always been the same, more quiet. I hated talking about how I felt, but I've been practicing that a lot. That's what I'm working on in therapy", he reports.
At 18 years old, the young man sought to break this reference to silence. With the difficulty of verbalizing and social isolation, Sergio realized that the suffering was also affecting his physical health.
"I discovered that I had developed nervous gastritis. I treated anxiety for about four years in therapy and, since then, I have been, as it were, another person, in a better way. At least I have never been without eating or sleeping because of it", he recalls.
In this attitude of seeking professional help and seeing results, Sergio also influenced the well-being of other people around him. "I was kind of the precursor to going to therapy in my family. Today, at least my mother and my sister also undergo therapy," he says.
Old problems, new outfits
Despite the strengthening of mental health issues among young people, Professor Rodrigo makes a point of highlighting that illness also presents itself in an "updated" way, given contemporary contexts.
"Social isolation is a symptom, of course. And today we have cases where we notice teenagers and young people involved in electronic games, who spend many hours socially isolated. Compulsion and addiction, an example that we have also seen a lot in older people, is the issue of gambling, the 'tigrinho', which has also affected a large portion of the population", he says.
Still in this current analysis, Rodrigo adds another scenario that attracts, mainly, men. Since a symptom of pathological suffering is social isolation, the offer of care in groups that naturalize certain behaviors of "masculine culture" reinforces the population's illness.
"Every group is important to a certain degree, but when you are in a group that reinforces these characteristics of self-sufficiency, that you don't need to ask for help, that the man has to take care of everything, that he has to suffer in silence and that he has to overcome — which is what the Red Pill community provides — this type of speech doesn't help. It even gets in the way", he concludes.
The Red Pill movement gained notoriety on the internet after men began addressing misogynistic ideologies in their speeches. The community emerged from a fictional concept from the 1999 film The Matrix, in which the red pill would be the choice to "awaken" and gain "awareness" of the reality of the world.
How to find help
In Sorocaba, it is possible to find free professional care in the public health network and also in teaching clinics at affordable prices. See the addresses below.
Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) open free of charge and available 24 hours a day:
CAPS AD III – Saca Só (North Region)
Address: Rua Giovani Boletta, 35 - Jardim Maria Eugênia
Telephone: (15) 3232-4011
Opening hours: 24 hours.
CAPS AD III – Roda Viva (Central Region)
Address: Rua Francisco Ferreira Leão, 203 - Vila Leão
Telephone: (15) 3357-5777
Opening hours: 24 hours.
CAPS III – Art of Encounter (Northern Region)
Address: Avenida Itavuvu, 1,083 – Jardim Maria Antônia Prado
Telephone: (15) 3326-0743
Opening hours: 24 hours.
CAPS III – Joy of Living (West Region)
Address: Rua Ricardo Marcos de Madureira Moreira, 61 – Jardim Refúgio
Telephone: (15) 3329-4811
Opening hours: 24 hours.
CAPS III – Living in Freedom (Eastern Region)
Address: Calle Guatemala, 185 – Barcelona
Telephone: (15) 3326-1564
Opening hours: 24 hours.
Clinic-School of Psychology at Faculdade Anhanguera de Sorocaba
Address: Av. Dr. Armando Pannunzio, 1478 - Room 1 - Jardim Itangua
Telephone: (15) 9 9657-3890
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 8am to 9pm.
Price: R$20.00 per session
Center for Applied Psychology (CPA) - UNIP Sorocaba
Address: Av. Independência, 210 - Éden
Telephone: (15) 3412-1091
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8am to 10pm
Price: free
