Link – Stigma in Male Depression and Suicide: A Canadian Sex Comparison Study

“Fewer men than women are formally diagnosed with depression, and in Western countries, rates of male depression are half that of females. Experts suggest that the lower reported rates of men’s depression are due, in part, to men’s reluctance to express concerns about their mental health and reticence to seek professional mental health care services (Oliffe and Phillips 2008). Confounding this, male suicide rates are three times higher than that of females (Statistics Canada 2014). Implicated in the discordant relationship between men’s low rates of diagnosed depression and high suicide rates is stigma around mental illness, which can impede men’s help-seeking and/or treatment compliance and limit their self-disclosure about depressive symptoms and/or suicidal thoughts (Livingston and Boyd 2010).”

The two statistics seem to point to an obvious stigma that prevents men with depression from actually seeking help, and being diagnosed, but it’s good to have some studies that show exactly how that works.

Guys, there are lots of you out here currently dealing with depression, and there are lots of us out here who have had to deal with it at one time or another. Don’t let the small number of current diagnosis convince you otherwise.

Stigma in Male Depression and Suicide: A Canadian Sex Comparison Study