What gets in the way? Men’s perspectives of barriers to mental health services

Abstract

Background:

This study describes barriers to accessing mental health services among men currently experiencing a mental health concern.

Methods:

Mental health help-seeking survey data from 778 male respondents who self-reported experiencing a mental health concern were analyzed.

Results:

Of these men, 65% ( n = 513) wanted treatment and 35% ( n = 265) did not want treatment. The most frequently endorsed barriers to mental health treatment were believing that a lot of people feel sad and down (80%; n = 620), not knowing what to look for in a psychotherapist (counselor; 80%; n = 618) and needing to solve one’s own problems (73%; n = 569). Compared with men who wanted help for their mental health concern, those men who did not want help were significantly more likely to be unsure if psychotherapy (counseling) really works or is effective, not tell their physician if they were feeling down or depressed and prefer to solve their own problems.

Conclusions:

The high endorsement of both structural (e.g., cost) and attitudinal (e.g., beliefs) barriers by respondents suggests that service delivery must adapt to better respond to dominant masculine ideals while also improving men’s ease of access into a transparent treatment process.