Men suffering a mental illness are less likely to receive mental health treatment or diagnosis.
Reasons men do not seek help:
Societal pressure on men to “man up” or “tough it out”
Stigma of men speaking out on mental illness is that they are seen as weak or not manly
Culture, fatherhood, race, and socioeconomic status
Society tends to blame men for their own struggles
Struggling to keep up with gender norms
Too often embrace unhealthy attitudes and beliefs (e.g. toxic masculinity)
Societal stigma, fear of judgment, and lack of skills to communicate emotions (due to society)
Men often struggle to differentiate depression from stress and to know when symptoms are severe enough to seek help
Reasons for mental illnesses in men:
Taught to define their worth based on their ability to economically provide for their household
Put unreasonable expectations on self to cause burnout
Imbalance of job demands and job skills, lack of control over tasks at work, lack of reward, prolonged stress cause burnout
Symptoms of mental health disorders in men:
Escapist behavior
Physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, and pain
Misuse of alcohol and/or drugs
Controlling, violent, or abusive behavior
Anger, irritability, or aggressiveness
Risky behavior
Noticeable mood changes, energy level, or appetite
Feeling sad, hopeless, empty
Having difficulty sleeping or sleep too much
Not getting pleasure from activities
Suicidal thoughts
Barriers for proper diagnosis of men’s mental health:
Men feel as though providers mislabel or underestimate their needs (due to providers own biases)
Ex: Data from Canada and United States found that more than 60% of men who died by suicide had seeked and accessed mental health care services within the previous year
Lack of gender differences within mental health; such as symptoms in men include aggressiveness, alcohol use, and risky behavior
There are effective treatments and help for men with mental health disorders, but asking for help is a difficult thing men struggle with. It is important we learn about these stigmas and encourage mental health advocacy for men.
