Being “masculine” in today’s society can heavily influence how men act. One part of this is regarding health care. Because a man may wish to seem more traditionally masculine, he may reject pain he is feeling and therefore not seek adequate medical care.

Society demands that men be tough. If they do not act tough this takes away from their contemporary masculinity. Therefore, men are more likely to ignore signs of pain, dismissing them as a weakness. Men are also more traditionally out of touch with their emotions. If they do not seek help for physical ailments, they avoid medical help even more with mental ones.

Interestingly, men are most reluctant to seek help for depression, substance abuse and stressful life events.[1] Mentally, men are reluctant to admit that they have a problem or are so out of touch that they do not recognize there is one. In therapy, a man must first admit that he has a problem, then openly discuss his emotions leading to the problem. This counters the traditional view of a man being emotionally closed and overcoming his problems through being self-reliant and stoic. An example that struck me was to imagine the Marlboro Man in therapy; the epitome of masculinity reclining on a couch, seeking help and discussing his emotions.[2] This doesn’t flow with contemporary masculinity. Therefore, men are much more likely than women to reserve finding help for health problems, especially mental problems that require being in touch with emotion.

There is nothing biological about men that would cause them to seek out health care less than women. The reason must be that they are taught to be “men,” which in turn causes them to disregard the need for professional help when it comes to health care. The way to turn this trend around and make sure that men seek the help they need is difficult. However, it can be achieved if the conditions men are reluctant to seek help about are normalized. Take the erectile dysfunction industry, for example. Now that there are commercials everywhere for ED drugs and many men are taking them, awareness has been raised and more men are going in to see their doctors about taking the drug. If this approach is taken for depression, substance abuse and other ailments- especially those that are mental and effect men the most- men would start to see their doctors more. The more open the affiliated condition is, the more men will be comfortable talking about and seeking help for said condition. This worked recently, in 2003 when the National Institute of Mental Health launched a “real men, real depression,” campaign to show that many men suffer from depression.[3] If these issues are treated more openly, then men will seek out medical help more often.

[1] Winerman, Lea, American Psychological Association, “Helping Men to Help Themselves” (Washington, D.C.: June 2005) Vol. 36, No. 6

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

Bibliography:

• Lea Winerman, American Psychological Association, “Helping Men to Help Themselves” (Washington, D.C.: June 2005) Vol. 36, No. 6