Stigma around Men’s Mental Health

According to Vogel, Wester, Hammer and Downing-Matibag, there is a stigma around men’s mental health because they undervalue mental health services. Most people in society believe that men should not express their emotions and vulnerability because it is still perceived as a sign of weakness. There is an idea that men should be silent and strong to appear as attractive by showing no sign of emotions. There are numerous researches that had been done to illustrate that there is a higher rates of mental health issues in men. There are some factors that could lead to men’s mental health stigma, these factors are attitude, and masculinity.

Men have stronger tendency to repress their feelings and emotions when it comes to mental health illness and other issues in their lives (Vogel et al, 2013). Raising mental health awareness in universities and colleges helps to eliminate some of the stigma related to men’s mental health. According to Vogel and colleagues (2013), participants who had postsecondary education were shown a significant difference in the relationship between self-stigma and attitudes. According to Myers and Booth (2002), This modest decrease for more highly educated men may make sense in light of recent research showing that those with higher levels of education tend to have slightly less negative aspects of seeking help and are likely to view help seeking when they feel depression and anxiety. Mental Health awareness in universities create targeted interventions and improve favorable attitudes toward counseling to help men and women to seek help earlier.

 

 

 

Reference:

Hammer, J. H., Vogel, D. L., & Heimerdinger-Edwards, S. (2013). Men’s help seeking: Examination of differences across community size, education, and income. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 14(1), 65-75. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/10.1037/a0026813
Myers, S. M., & Booth, A. (2002). Forerunners of change in nontraditional gender ideology. Social Psychology Quarterly, 65, 18–37. doi:10.2307/ 3090166
Vogel, D. L., Wester, S. R., Hammer, J. H., & Downing-Matibag, T. (2014). Referring men to seek help: The influence of gender role conflict and stigma. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 15(1), 60-67. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/10.1037/a0031761