Men's use of positive strategies for preventing and managing depression: A qualitative investigation

Elite Athletes Coping With Depression: A Qualitative Study

“…The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the coping strategies implemented by elite athletes who had been diagnosed with depression within the larger context of their subjective experience of MHI(s). On first review, our findings offer little new data but rather confirm studies previously conducted in the general population that people with depression tend to use a variety of strategies to manage their MHIs (Alexander et al, 2009;Biringer et al, 2016;Cornford et al, 2007;Fogarty et al, 2015;Liu & Thompson, 2017). On a deeper examination, however, the present findings consider the ways participants responded to their experience of MHIs and highlight the wide and mixed range of problem− (e.g., help-seeking behaviours), emotion− (e.g., emotional eating, stress decrease strategies, venting unpleasant emotions), appraisal− (e.g., cognitive restructuring, reappraisal strategies), and avoidance (e.g., removing self from a stressful situation, physical activity, new hobbies, postponing seeking from help) strategies used, alone or in combination, by athletes to cope with depression.…”

“…Perhaps related to the use of these coping strategies, Beable et al (2017) highlighted the relatively low use of antidepressant medication in athletes compared to the general population. Within the general population, where the use of coping strategies has been studied more extensively, help-seeking behaviours such as talking to others and social support (Alexander, Haugland, Ashenden, Knight, & Brown, 2009;Biringer, Davidson, Sundfør, Lier, & Borg, 2016;Cornford, Hill, & Reilly, 2007;Fogarty et al, 2015), physical activity (Biringer et al, 2016;Daley, 2008;Fogarty et al, 2015), positive thinking (Alexander et al, 2009;Biringer et al, 2016), meditation (Fogarty et al, 2015), engaging in pleasant or neutral activities (Alexander et al, 2009;Fogarty et al, 2015;Liu & Thompson, 2017), and more conventional approaches such as medical treatments (Cornford et al, 2007) or psychotherapies (e.g., CBT;Alexander et al, 2009) have been reported as strategies used to cope with depression. Although various coping strategies differentially impact one's level of depression, the processes by which they might influence one's symptoms are not always well understood (e.g., physical activity; Daley, 2008).…”

“…can help an individual to focus on something else or serve as a source of distraction from their worries and depressing thoughts (Alexander et al, 2009;Biringer et al, 2016;Daley, 2008). As such, it seems important to consider the role of coping strategies in dealing with MHIs, especially given that people can adapt their use according to their needs (e.g., mood, symptoms or problem severity; Fogarty et al, 2015).…”

Engaging Australian men in masculinity and suicide – A concept test of social media materials and a website

“…Over recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the challenges of engaging men in mental health promotion . Research has shown that men are generally open and willing to talk about mental health issues but they may not feel comfortable doing so in conventional therapeutic settings . For men to open up about their struggles, interventions have to be “male‐friendly” and “male specific” so that the risk of being alienated and losing male status as pertains to masculine norms is minimised …”

“…52,53,55,[63][64][65] Research has shown that men are generally open and willing to talk about mental health issues but they may not feel comfortable doing so in conventional therapeutic settings. 66 For men to open up about their struggles, interventions have to be "male-friendly" and "male specific" so that the risk of being alienated and losing male status as pertains to masculine norms is minimised. 55,67 As summarised above, our findings identified similarities as well as differences to the current knowledge base.…”