Researchers have found that men and women cope with depression, and other mental illnesses differently. Although statistics suggest that women suffer with depression and anxiety more than men, further studies have found that the disparity between the two genders in terms of social stigma could be the cause. This has led to the belief that the way in which the two sexes are treated could differ as well, in terms of what is successful. A new report has shown that men who seek group therapy as a form of treatment could find it more effective than those who opt for other methods of treatment.
Not only do the findings highlight the contrast between how men and women deal with the issues of mental health, but they also show a pattern of isolation that men feel when suffering with depression – this is largely due to the association between depression and weakness that men feel pressured by. Those in the study who had plenty of family and friend support groups they could turn to in hours of need fared much better than those who didn’t, with these participants feeling unable to talk openly about their concerns. The study was carried out by University of Bristol and involved two groups of men regarding their conditions and group therapy. The first group involved 17 men who were from one of four support groups for depression. The second group was made up of 12 men who were staff members for the support groups – around half of these men had depression themselves.
Those in the groups seemed to notice an improvement in their conditions compared to those who were more isolated. Not only did their peers provide support but they also helped to break down the stigmas associated with male depression. It gave these men the chance to take on leadership roles, which improved the notion of weakness amongst men suffering with this form of mental illness. Furthermore, researchers noted that men from a variety of backgrounds needed different types of group therapy – unemployed men, for example, with a more severe form of depression tended to opt for professionally led groups, whereas men with milder symptoms found more benefit from peer-led groups. However, many men still ignore their condition and refuse to seek help, which means that these benefits are lost on the majority of men.
Comments are closed.