Sex Differences in Help Seeking for Mood and Anxiety Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication

Abstract

Efforts aimed at reducing attitudinal barriers toward treatment seeking for mental disorders may not effectively reduce the sex disparity in mental health help seeking. The results highlight the importance of encouraging men to attend routine medical visits, as medical doctors are a key gateway to mental health services.

Identification of major depressive disorder among the long-term unemployed

“…However, in line with earlier research [36][37][38], women (54%) got a diagnosis of MDD in the EDIPE -examinations more commonly than men (45%). Among those with the diagnosis, women's MDD had been recorded in health care more often than men's (50 vs. 36%); this is likely due to gender differences in the threshold to seek help for mental problems [39,40].…”

Determinants of access to health care for depression in 49 countries: A multilevel analysis

“…Traditionally, the focus has been on studying individual determinants of help-seeking and access to care. Previous studies suggest that factors such as low socio-economic status (Bleich et al, 2012) and male sex (Susukida et al, 2015) are associated with decreased service use. Poor mental health literacy (Wei et al, 2015), stigma and fear of disclosure (Clement et al, 2015) and self-reliance (Gulliver et al, 2010), for example, are important barriers to help-seeking.…”

The personal and community impact of a Scottish Men's Shed

“…It can be seen from these results that health was among some of the more commonly mentioned topics of conversation at the Shed, although it was brought to the attention of the interviewer on several occasions that these topics were mentioned but often not discussed in detail. It could be speculated that the interest the men show in discussing health could be used to target health interventions in this at‐risk group by using the Shed as a platform to discuss and promote health and well‐being relevant to the Shedders in a more accepting environment (Cordier & Wilson, ; Wilson, Cordier, Doma, Misan, & Vaz, ), especially since generally men exhibit less help‐seeking behaviour and poorer outcomes (Susukida, Mojtabai, & Mendelson, ; Yousaf, Grunfeld, & Hunter, ). A specific example of this being that mental health was often mentioned at the Shed, with it having previously been shown that full‐time retirement/unemployment in men from the age of 45–74 is significantly associated with high levels of psychological distress compared to the working population (Vo et al., )—and the Shed could be seen as a vital step in prevention for these people.…”