Male Mental Health Stigma

Originally Written for the publisher Wiley’s client: https://www.socialworkdegrees.org/

Mental health is essential, and seeking treatment for mental illness is critical.

Mental illness afflicts men of all ages, but male mental health stigma distinctly prevents many from seeking proper mental health treatment.

As a result, in many ways, mental health stigma has a disproportionally negative impact on the male population.

Some male social dynamics exacerbate men's difficulty with speaking openly about mental health through toxic discouragement from peers.

The role of social workers in combating male mental health stigma involves more than directly treating symptoms in clinical settings.

It also includes becoming involved in community affairs so that norms no longer incentivize silence about mental illness. Social workers do this partly by reducing toxic masculine norms in one's community.

How Mental Health Stigma Impacts Men

Men are disproportionally negatively affected by mental health stigma.

The central negative effect of stigma on men’s mental health is that men are exceedingly less likely to seek help when suffering from mental illness.

To understand how mental health stigma impacts men, therefore, we need to understand why men are less likely to seek treatment when they are in need of it.

One of the central reasons men do not seek mental health treatment when suffering from symptoms of mental illness is related to masculine norms of the toxic sort.

It isn’t only that men are less likely to seek help for mental illness or that toxic male peer dynamics exacerbate this issue.

Instead, it is also the fact that their reduced likelihood to seek help is empirically associated with higher rates of –sometimes fatal– adverse health outcomes.

When mental health is overlooked, profoundly negative consequences are evident when considering men's mental health statistics.

For example, according to the American Journal of Men’s Health, the leading cause of death among men in the United States is depression and suicide. This rate is four times higher than that of women.

Men are also two to three times more likely to use drugs or alcohol than women.

And in general, men are the demographic group with the highest likelihood of being homeless, the victim of a violent crime, and the perpetrator of a violent crime.

Men, statistically speaking, suffer immensely from mental health complications, and the primary reason this problem goes unfixed is their decreased likelihood to seek or accept help.

Men May Have a Harder Time Asking for Help

A critical reason male mental illness outcomes generally fare worse than most other demographic groups is that men are less likely to ask for help.

In many cultures, men are expected –whether by society at large or by the immediate culture in which one grew up– to be thick-skinned, firm and unemotional concerning mental illness.

These expectations, however, do not coincide with reality in many cases –they are unrealistic expectations, in other words.

Through these expectations, men restrict various behaviors, such as crying, displaying expressions of fear, uttering expressions about their feelings, and perhaps most damagingly, seeking help for symptoms of mental illness.

Each human being has a distinct personality, and not all men possess characters resembling traditional masculine notions.

Now, there's nothing wrong with that. However, embracing who you are might even require curtailing traditional norms around gender and sex.

No monolithic definition of "male" or "man" exists that any individual must abide by. Human social identity is much more complex than believing there can only be one type of "male" or "man."

What is wrong, however, is that broad and imposing expectations on men from male mental health stigma prevent men from fulfilling their true social identities as men.

For instance, some men want to be fashion models that wear makeup or culinary enthusiasts but feel inhibited in their ability to do so because these aren’t “masculine” enough pursuits.

When we lack the full breadth and depth of our social identities because a rigid conception of "male" or "manhood" is standing in our way, we become mentally ill.

Toxic Masculinity and Its Contribution to Male Mental Health Stigma

According to the American Journal of Men’s Health, a central source of men's inhibited ability to ask for help is masculine norms surrounding mental illness, which cause behavior-restricting expectations.

One example of such "toxic masculinity" is that, traditionally, men would be harassed by other men and openly considered "weak" for seeking mental health treatment. Similar treatment would apply to men who openly spoke about mental illness symptoms.

To a considerable degree, men still treat one another like this, which exacerbates existing male mental health stigmas.

Men internalize these stigmas at a young age, and the more exposed they are to norms involving toxic masculinity, the more difficult it will be for men to seek mental health treatment.

Through early exposure to ridicule, judgment, and outright abuse in response to any semblance of emotionality, these toxic norms condition men to behave in ways that run counter to their well-being.

Adults contribute to this problem by responding to young male violence and aggression with cliched slogans like "boys will be boys." Unfortunately, such responses only excuse behavior that later leads to an impaired ability to express emotions and worsening symptoms of mental illness. 

This does not mean that masculinity in and of itself is toxic or leads to mental illness. Instead, it signifies masculinity has harmful elements that lead to mental illness.

Different Symptoms in Mental Health for Men

Mental health affects everyone differently, and the reason for this cannot be reduced to any one factor. Genetics, environment, upbringing, socio-cultural, and socio-economic factors all contribute to mental health outcomes.

Nevertheless, men are at a higher risk for distinct symptoms.

For example, issues with interpersonal relationships, intimacy, and even violence are symptoms directly attributable to toxic masculinity's adverse effects on male mental health stigma.

Likewise, for similar reasons, homophobia and aggression are more common among men compared to other demographic groups when suffering from mental illness, such as women.

When male aggression is actively promoted or neglected, it incentivizes repressive behaviors that increase psychological distress in men, partly because it inhibits their ability to speak with others about such grief.

If a young boy violently pushes someone, adults that encourage it by complementing them or neglect it by perceiving it as an insignificant contributor to the development of mental illness in men.

Young boys who are violent, on the flip side, can also be brutally punished –whether through physical abuse or verbal and emotional abuse. Some parents or guardians might think such punishment is "better than nothing," but it isn't.

Parents and other adults responsible for boys who abuse their children are just as likely to contribute to their future mental illness as those who neglect or encourage bad behavior.

Punishment emboldens humans to continue acting in harmful ways as a means of self-protection. 

Social Workers' Role in Reducing the Stigma

Social workers exist to solve human problems. For example, the stigma of mental health for men is a massive human problem that social workers resolve daily.

When men can muster up the strength and resolve to seek treatment, social workers are there as non-judgmental aids in their psychological and social rehabilitation process.

Men who undergo successful treatment re-integrate themselves into their communities and positively influence their male counterparts.

In other words, when men treat their mental health problems, they are more likely to convince their male friends to do the same, increasing the odds of more successfully treating men.

Social workers serve a purpose in reducing mental health stigma outside of one-on-one therapeutic contexts. Social workers can also play a massive role in their community through outreach and advertising themselves as a beacon of knowledge and resources.

Additionally, social workers can work as school counselors.

One of the ways mental health stigma is generated in men is through neglect. When adults do not step in to prevent boys from being overly aggressive and violent, it conditions boys to expect no consequences for their bad behavior.

School counselors can be the adult who intervenes. These interventions are firm because there need to be negative consequences attached to toxic behaviors. However, they are also without judgment and with a moral purpose, explained calmly.

It isn't expected for boys to have such an adult figure intervene on their behalf in this way. Nevertheless, social workers wield a massively important responsibility in their ability to do so as school counselors.

Ignoring away the problem of toxic behavior from young boys only creates violent adult men.

Social workers can also impact communities more directly by becoming community social workers.

Community social workers involve themselves in community boards and meetings to help guide their decision-making processes.

Becoming a social worker will positively contribute to the mental health problem by providing men and communities with the correct information and resources.

If you are interested in becoming a social worker, please click here to learn more about social work degrees and social work as a career path.