Men and their mental health

Through concerted media campaigns, publicly shared personal stories including those of celebrity athletes, and the formation of such organizations as “First Responder Health,” the conversation has become more open in our society around men addressing mental health disorders. Our culture has historically labelled help seeking behaviour as a weakness, in particular for men. In the study “What gets in the way? Men’s perspective of barriers to mental health services” (Seidler, Rice, Kealy 2019), the most frequently endorsed barriers were: believing that a lot of people feel sad and down, not knowing what to look for in a therapist, and needing to solve one’s own problems. The conclusion of the study suggested that service delivery must adapt to better respond to masculine ideals while also improving men’s ease of access both financially and transparency of process. As we all strive to be more culturally responsive, let’s consider what steps we might take to remove barriers for all of our clients regardless of gender through education, training, and being curious about specific needs.