Men's emotional inexpressivity: advertising for psychotropic drugs in Scandinavian medical journals

Abstract

Aim Men's use of psychotropics and the portrayal of men in psychotropic drug advertising have been underresearched and undertheorized in past research on psychotropics. The focus on women's health as the primary target of medicalization and commodification has scanted the same processes for men. This study aims to illuminate the construction of patienthood in the patient portrayals of men's mental health. Method A quantitative and qualitative analysis was done of all the advertisements (N=366) for psychotropics that appeared in the national medical journal in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in 2000. Results In the gender portryal of men in the psychotropic ads two images of men's patienthood were constructed: men's relational problems with family and men as victims of ontological insecurity.