Research looks at men’s reluctance to seek help

The popular stereotype of men driving around lost because they are not willing to ask for directions is actually more accurate than not.

That reluctance to seek help holds true in the lives of men having mental health issues as well. A body of empirical research supports the belief that men are less likely than women to get assistance from professionals for problems such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, physical disabilities and stress.

Michael Addis, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. is director of a research group on men’s well being and has spent 15 years studying men, masculinity and issues such as why this reluctance occurs.

“It’s a huge issue. Men are an underserved population in the world. By not seeking help, their problems stay, they become less adaptive and it increases the possibility of substance abuse, suicide, and suicide/homicide,” he said.

In fact, men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women and issues like untreated depression can spiral into anger, violence and other expressions of the illness.

The adoption of ‘traditional’ male characteristics is ingrained at an early age. Boys are taught through societal/cultural expectations that they shouldn’t cry on the playground, for example, and that “vulnerability and dependency are shameful qualities,” according to Addis.

“The dominant message is to avoid anything that could be perceived as feminine (traits),” Addis said. It is possible that men interpret seeking professional services in this light and are therefore turned off.

“When they do look for help, it is done in a discreet way and usually from women,” Addis said. It’s also likely that diagnostic labels like ‘depression,’ contribute to the reluctance.

The same attitude holds true in the military, where it is recognized that a large percentage of veterans shy away from seeking professional services for issues like posttraumatic stress disorder.

“The military has a lot of its own culture of exaggerated masculinity,” Addis noted. “The thought is ‘you should have the balls to withstand pain.’ It’s magnified there.”

He said that there is a way for therapists to accurately diagnose depression in men and to encourage them to make themselves vulnerable when talking about life difficulties

Often, men talk about physical aches and pains they are having instead of describing themselves as feeling sad, Addis said.

The student research group at Clark is currently analyzing data from a three-year study of barriers to men’s use of mental health services.

They are also gaining perspectives on campus about the degree to which stress is misperceived in men.

So far, some of the findings show public perception may be inaccurate.

Male university students may project images that they are okay, not lonely and don’t want to talk about their problems. What the research project is finding is that the students feel stressed and want to talk about it but believe they are the only ones that feel that way.

The National Institute of Mental Health is funding Addis’ current research.