Men’s Experiences of Mental Illness Stigma Across the Lifespan: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The stigma of men’s mental illness has been described as having wide-reaching and profound consequences beyond the condition[s] itself. Stigma negatively impacts men’s mental health help-seeking and the use of services amid impeding disclosures, diminishing social connection and amplifying economic hardship. Although men often face barriers to discussing their struggles with, and help-seeking for mental illness challenges, research focused on men’s lived experiences of mental illness stigma is, at best, emergent. This scoping review explores men’s mental illness related stigmas synthesizing and discussing the findings drawn from 21 published qualitative articles over the last 10 years. Four thematic findings were derived: (a) the weight of societal stigma, (b) stigma in male-dominated environments, (c) inequity driven stigmas, and (d) de-stigmatizing strategies. Despite evidence that stigma is a common experience for men experiencing diverse mental illness challenges, the field remains underdeveloped. Based on the scoping review findings, research gaps and opportunities for advancing the field are discussed.

Mental Health Literacy and Stigma in a Municipality in the North of Portugal: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Gender also has an influence on stigma, with the RIBS and CAMI results indicating that stigma is significatively lower in younger women. These findings are congruent with previous studies suggesting that age and gender impact attitudes toward people with mental illness [ 49 , 50 , 51 ]. Despite this, the group that presented the lowest stigma values was the “others” group.…”

Workplace Interventions Targeting Mental Health Literacy, Stigma, Help-Seeking, and Help-Offering in Male-Dominated Industries: A Systematic Review

“…It is against this backdrop that poor health literacy, increased mental health stigma, and delayed help-seeking are implicated as key challenges to men’s mental health (Cotton et al, 2006; McKenzie et al, 2022; Möller-Leimkühler, 2002). Lack of engagement with health-care services may result from lower levels of competence around when to seek help with previous research highlighting an association between conformity to masculine norms and lower health literacy (Milner et al, 2019).…”

“…Lack of engagement with health-care services may result from lower levels of competence around when to seek help with previous research highlighting an association between conformity to masculine norms and lower health literacy (Milner et al, 2019). This may affect men’s ability to recognize mental health disorders which may contribute to increased stigma and delayed help-seeking (Cotton et al, 2006; McKenzie et al, 2022).…”

Sex-specific brain effective connectivity patterns associated with negative emotions

“…Additionally, failing to acknowledge how men and women process emotions differently can reinforce negative sex stereotypes (Fischer, 1993; Heesacker et al, 1999; Lopez-Zafra & Gartzia, 2014) and contribute to the ongoing sex disparities in access to mental health care. For instance, sex stereotypes may encourage the notion that men shouldn’t be vulnerable or emotional, which could result in a lack of recognition and treatment of male emotional problems (Fischer et al, 2018; Lopez-Zafra & Gartzia, 2014; McKenzie et al, 2022).…”