"Why Won't He Go to the Doctor?": The Psychology of Men's Help Seeking

Mansfield, Abigail K.; Addis, Michael E.; Mahalik, James R.

doi:10.3149/jmh.0202.93

Cited by 198 publications

(180 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…These results support suggestions that toughness is a more salient norm for men and could explain their greater resistance to traditional or formal mental health treatment (28,33,41,42). The toughness norm teaches children that asking for help implies weakness and leads to a loss of independence (25,30,31).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Role of the Gender-Linked Norm of Toughness in the Decision to Engage in Treatment for Depression

O'Loughlin

Duberstein

Bell

et al. 2011

Psychiatric Services

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Objective Given their prevalence and persuasive power in our culture, gender norms— commonly described as socially reinforced, learned expectations of what it means to be a man or a woman—likely contribute to sex differences in service utilization for depression. This study investigated whether sex differences in toughness, a gender-linked norm characterized by a desire to hide pain and maintain independence, were associated with a preference to wait for depression to resolve on its own without active professional treatment (``wait-and-see” approach). Methods Participants (N=1,051) in the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey were contacted in a follow-on survey to assess toughness, the kind of treatment they would prefer were they to receive a diagnosis of depression, and current symptoms of depression. Participants who reported ever having been diagnosed as having a depressive disorder on the BRFSS were oversampled threefold. Analyses were conducted using linear and logistic regressions. Results Men and women who scored higher on toughness had a greater preference for the wait-and-see approach (OR=1.14, p<.01). Women were less likely to prefer the wait-and-see approach (OR=.58, p<.04) and scored lower on toughness (B=−.70, p<.01). Men’s greater levels of toughness partially mediated the sex difference in treatment preferences (OR=.91, p<.05). Conclusions Men’s greater adherence to the toughness norm explained part of the sex difference observed in treatment-seeking preferences, but toughness undermined women’s treatment seeking as well. Findings could be used to inform novel public health communications intended to attract both men and women to psychiatric services.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Role of the Gender-Linked Norm of Toughness in the Decision to Engage in Treatment for Depression

O'Loughlin

Duberstein

Bell

et al. 2011

Psychiatric Services

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“…This is not surprising because it is well documented that compared to women, men in general have limited contacts with physicians and seek less healthcare services (Mansfield et al, 2003;Galdas et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2006). It is assumed that several factors might be involved in men's decisions, including masculine ideologies regarding seeking help when faced with illness or problems (Galdas et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Community-based study on knowledge, attitudes and perception of rabies in Gelephu, south-central Bhutan

Tenzin

Dhand

Doj³

et al. 2012

International Health

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“…However, men are less likely to discuss mental and emotional problems with their primary care providers, and spend less time in office visits than do women (Smith, Braunack-Mayer, & Wittert, 2006). When the use of reproductive services have been accounted for, Western men use health services less often than do women, especially after the age of 16 years, and are twice as likely to have gaps of two or more years between physician visits (Mansfield, Addis, & Mahalik, 2003;Mason & Strauss, 2004;Smith et al, 2006). The reasons for these differences may include perceptions of invulnerability and espousing the masculine 'ideals' of independence, self-reliance, stoicism, and fear of discrimination for mental or physical health problems (George & Fleming, 2004;Smith et al, 2006;White, Fawkner, & Holmes, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Help seeking for cardiac symptoms: Beyond the masculine–feminine binary

Galdas

Johnson

Percy

et al. 2010

Social Science & Medicine

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Empirical and theoretical literature suggests that stereotypical gender roles shape men's and women's health help-seeking behavior, and plays an important role in the treatment seeking delays of cardiac patients. We were interested in exploring the ways in which gender informs the experiences and help-seeking behavior of men and women who experienced the symptoms associated with acute cardiac events. We undertook 20 in-depth interviews between October 2007 and July 2008 with 11 men and 9 women recently diagnosed with an acute coronary syndrome in British Columbia, Canada. Participants were encouraged to tell their 'story' of the event that led to hospitalization and diagnosis, with a focus on the symptoms and decision making processes that occurred before and during the activation of health services: seeking the advice of others including colleagues, family members and healthcare professionals; calling 911; and attending an emergency department. Although we anticipated that distinctive patterns of help-seeking behavior aligned with stereotypical masculine and feminine ideals might emerge from our data, this was not always the case. We found some evidence of the influence of gender role ideology on the help-seeking behavior of both male and female participants. However, men's and women's experiences of seeking health care were not easily parsed into distinct binary gender patterns. Behavior that might stereotypically be considered to be 'masculine' or 'feminine' gender practice was shared by both male and female participants. Our findings undermine simple binary distinctions about gendered help-seeking prevalent in the literature, and contribute towards setting the direction of the future health policy and research agenda addressing the issue of gender and health help-seeking behavior.

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"Why Won't He Go to the Doctor?": The Psychology of Men's Help Seeking

Cited by 198 publications

References 25 publications

Role of the Gender-Linked Norm of Toughness in the Decision to Engage in Treatment for Depression

Role of the Gender-Linked Norm of Toughness in the Decision to Engage in Treatment for Depression

Community-based study on knowledge, attitudes and perception of rabies in Gelephu, south-central Bhutan

Help seeking for cardiac symptoms: Beyond the masculine–feminine binary

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