Psychology

Men's reactions to mental health labels, forms of help-seeking, and sources of help-seeking advice

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Despite there being effective clinical treatments for a range of mental health issues (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999, Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), men have a particularly low rate of help-seeking from mental health professionals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002, The NHSDA report: Serious mental illness among adults. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health). A variety of contextual factors may be associated with why men are resistant to professional help-seeking (Addis, M. E., & Mahalik, J. R., 2003, Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help-seeking, American Psychologist, 58, 5-14). The current project recruited a diverse community sample and used two observational rating measures to assess men's verbal reactions to common mental health labels ("anxiety" and "depression"), different forms of help-seeking (medication, psychotherapy, friends and family, and "other forms of help-seeking"), and different sources of help-seeking advice (romantic partner, doctor, and psychotherapist) within the context of a clinical-style interview. The findings indicated that men prefer talk-therapy with a psychotherapist compared to other forms of professional help-seeking and that many men, particularly those who adhere to hegemonic masculine norms, are more resistant to taking medication. Men were also found to react more positively to seeking professional treatment at the suggestion of a psychotherapist compared with a medical doctor or romantic partner. Finally, the study confirmed previous self-report findings that adherence to masculine norms is negatively associated with men's willingness to seek professional help. © 2012 American Psychological Association.

Publication Title

Psychology of Men and Masculinity

Publication Date

2013

Volume

14

Issue

4

First Page

433

Last Page

443

ISSN

1524-9220

DOI

10.1037/a0030175

Keywords

adherence to masculine nor, help-seeking, medication, men, psychotherapy

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