3 Reasons Men May Struggle With Their Mental Health

"According to a national health survey, approximately twice as many women seek help for mental health issues as compared to men. In addition, women are twice as likely to take a prescribed medication for their mental wellness as are men. Other research shows that twice as many women are diagnosed with depression. Despite this, men commit suicide almost four times as frequently."

"In this norm, men are supposed to 'suck it up,' 'man up,' and so on. In other words, to be a good man means stuffing your feelings and emotions. Of course, looking at the suicide rate as mentioned above, there's a steep price to pay for this strategy."

"For all humans, regardless of how rational we believe ourselves to be, our emotions are mixed into everything. We cannot escape the fact that we are deeply emotional beings."

"This stigma attached to asking for help may be one of the biggest reasons men are often reluctant to seek therapy. In my practice, I saw signs of this changing as I saw a range of men who came to my clinic."

Women seek mental health treatment and take prescribed medications at twice the rate of men, and receive depression diagnoses twice as frequently. However, men die by suicide nearly four times more often than women, revealing a critical gap in mental health support. Three primary factors contribute to this disparity: societal masculinity norms that discourage emotional expression, men's limited ability to identify and articulate emotions, and stigma surrounding help-seeking as weakness. Risk factors for severe depression in men include divorce and substance abuse. Despite these barriers, increasing numbers of men from diverse professions are beginning to seek therapy, suggesting changing attitudes toward mental health treatment.

Read at Psychology Today