Someone Asked “What Are Some Men’s Issues That Are Overlooked?”, And 30 People Delivered

We reached out to Rob Whitley, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, and the author of Men’s Issues and Men’s Mental Health, to discuss the problems men are facing today. 

According to the professor, there can be multiple reasons why these issues are often overlooked. First, there are the harmful stereotypes of men "based on research indicating that people typically attribute significantly more positive and pleasant traits to women than to men."

"One common manifestation of such biased gender stereotypes is the familiar women as victim/men as villain dichotomy, where men are sometimes framed as villainous threats to the social order and women as helpless passive victims, regardless of actual circumstances," he explained.

Then, there’s the gender empathy gap: "A relatively new phrase that refers to variations in public and private empathy towards men and women, with women typically receiving more empathy than men, even when controlling for situational factors."

Finally, we have the male gender blindness, "A tendency to overlook or ignore issues, inequities and disparities disproportionately experienced by men and boys in governments, health services and other institutions."

Rob Whitley told us that the current approaches to men’s mental health need to change because they "too narrowly focus on the singular concept of masculinity." Plus, they sometimes take an "unhelpful blaming and shaming accusatory approach by suggesting that men's mental health woes are due to alleged male deficits such as stubbornness and silence."

"In fact, less than 50% of people with a mental illness use formal mental health services, with service-utilization rates significantly lower in men compared to women, even when controlling for the presence of mental disorder," the professor added. "This underutilization has typically been attributed to harmful masculine norms that lead to a dysfunctional silence and stubbornness among men with mental health issues." 

However, this explanation ignores several relevant factors. First, there is a high degree of stigma in workplaces, the family and elsewhere "that can deter men from using formal mental health services and breaking the silence." 

Whitley continued that men in mental distress may fear that emotional disclosure and seeking help "can severely damage their employment status, future job opportunities as well as familial relationships. This can negatively affect their job retention, promotion prospects and career advancement."

It is for this reason men "may make a calculated cost-benefit analysis, deciding that the social costs of using services and breaking the silence outweighs the potential mental health benefits."

There’s also evidence that suggests that the formal mental care system can be unwelcoming for men, "and typically suffers from male gender blindness" since there are only a "few formal services devoted specifically to men’s mental health."

Lastly, men often prefer a more informal action-based approach. However, Whitley mentioned that these are not readily available in the formal mental health care system "which typically proceeds on a 'one-size-fits-all' approach."

"All this has contributed to the growing popularity of informal action-based interventions such as men’s sheds, which are a promising and innovative practice that incorporates many essential elements of a male-friendly approach."

We also contacted Timothy Wenger, the founder of The Man Effect. According to him, "There are many influencing factors as to why men are often silent when they are struggling emotionally." 

"I find that it is highly dependent on the macro and micro social settings that one is raised in," he told Bored Panda. When it comes to the micro, this could range from the family setting you grow up in, your parental figures, or friends. 

"From a macro perspective, how does your society as a whole perceive a man who is not mentally perfect?" Wenger asked. "Assessing those types of influences can reveal a significant amount of insight into one's own life if the time is taken to do a self-assessment." 

If we want to seek change, Wenger suggested that an "amazing way to positively encourage men that their struggles are normal is to facilitate conversations on this topic between young men and those whom they look up to."

He would like to remind you that you are not alone: "Depression, anxiety, or simply feeling nothing are all things others have experienced and if it is something you want to overcome, a great place to start is seeking professional help from a therapist or psychologist." 

Timothy Wenger added that the topic of men's mental health and emotional intelligence is something that needs more publicity and normalization: "I have had men of all ages reach out to me about a wide variety of struggles and oftentimes they just want to be heard. I always encourage them to find a friend to open up to and also to seek professional help if possible."