The Therapy Racket: Why Men Don’t Seek Help and What to… — Transcript

Explores why men avoid seeking professional help for mental and physical health, highlighting social, psychological, and evolutionary factors.

Key Takeaways

Men’s lower help-seeking behavior is influenced by social, psychological, and biological factors.
Emotional suppression and fear of appearing weak are major barriers for men seeking help.
Traditional masculine norms and roles discourage vulnerability and admitting health problems.
Current psychological frameworks may oversimplify or misinterpret men’s reluctance to seek help.
Understanding evolutionary and social influences can improve approaches to men’s health.

Summary

Men are significantly less likely than women to seek professional help for mental and physical health issues.
Research shows women make up two-thirds of mental health outpatient clients despite men having higher suicide rates.
Men often rely on female partners for health support, receiving little from male friends.
Barriers to help-seeking include perceived vulnerability, fear, denial, and prioritizing professional life over health.
Men suppress emotions like sadness and crying, often masking depression with bravado.
Traditional social roles, a sense of immunity, difficulty relinquishing control, and stigma hinder men from seeking help.
Social messaging about masculinity contributes to men’s reluctance but may not be the sole cause.
Pathogen disgust theory explains women’s sexual selection preferences and relates to perceptions of masculinity.
The video critiques prevailing psychological theories and highlights men’s disconnect from their own needs.
Calls for a broader understanding beyond socialization to address men's health-seeking behaviors.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

You know, it's no secret that men are far less likely to seek professional help than women. That doesn't just apply to mental health services. Medically speaking, men are far less likely to pay attention to and seek help for physical problems.

Speaker A

problems this isn't just an urban myth it's backed up by some pretty solid research when I Googled the term why men don't seek help the very first return I got was for an article in the American Psychological Association that cited a

Speaker A

This isn't just an urban myth; it's backed up by some pretty solid research. When I Googled the term "why men don't seek help," the very first return I got was for an article in the American Psychological Association that cited a

Speaker A

as affected as much or more often by problems like substance abuse and stress Related Disorders in the area of physical health the numbers are similar the the second Google return I got was a 1999 study from the Department of Family Medicine

Speaker A

study published in 1993 by psychologist Dr. John Vessie. He reviewed several epidemiological studies, concluding that women constituted fully two-thirds of mental health outpatient clients. This holds true even though men have a drastically higher suicide rate than women and are

Speaker A

unsurprising three key themes were identified which I will paraphrase as follows first support men appear to get most of their support for health concerns from their female Partners little from their male friends also help seeking perceived vulnerability fear and denial are

Speaker A

as affected as much or more often by problems like substance abuse and stress-related disorders. In the area of physical health, the numbers are similar. The second Google return I got was a 1999 study from the Department of Family Medicine

Speaker A

time it took to tend to medical issues was a barrier generally speaking it appears they felt more obligation to professional life than to their own health finally the number three link I got back from my Google search was from

Speaker A

at the State University of New York Health Science Center. It was conducted, and I quote, to report the family physician's perspective on why men do not access the health care system for medical problems, unquote. The study's conclusions were

Speaker A

factor is that men who are depressed often suppress their feelings rather than showing sadness and crying also quoted is Dean F McKinnon MD an associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the John's Hopkins school of medicine in Baltimore

Speaker A

unsurprising. Three key themes were identified, which I will paraphrase as follows. First, support: men appear to get most of their support for health concerns from their female partners, little from their male friends. Also, help-seeking, perceived vulnerability, fear, and denial are

Speaker A

but also because they're afraid they won't get the right information unquote the raggedly cliche stereotype of men offered by McKinnon is a common theme throughout all three of the first Google Returns on the question of why men don't seek help the American

Speaker A

important influences on whether men seek help. And finally, the researchers concluded that men were hindered by traditional social role characteristics, a sense of immunity and immortality, difficulty relinquishing control, and a belief that seeking help is unacceptable. Men also reported that the

Speaker A

notoriously misguided American psychology Association President Ronald F Levant whose theoretical approach is deeply rooted in patriarchy Theory Levant is also the primary author of something called the normative male Alexa thyia scale which assumes a default lack of emotional Acumen in the

Speaker A

time it took to tend to medical issues was a barrier. Generally speaking, it appears they felt more obligation to professional life than to their own health. Finally, the number three link I got back from my Google search was from

Speaker A

profession men are out of touch with their own needs and stubbornly refus to get help for their problems out of a misguided bravado that masks a childish fear of being seen as less than invincible and Herculean according to Levant and most

Speaker A

everydayhealth.com in the form of a medically reviewed article on why men don't seek help, specifically, with depression. The usual culprits were identified in this article, with the National Alliance on Mental Health being cited as saying that a complicating

Speaker A

be a [ __ ] or a [ __ ] and they internalize that message to the point that they ignore pain radiating down their left arm or coughing up blood they become so dissociated from their own emotional condition that they don't notice the

Speaker A

factor is that men who are depressed often suppress their feelings rather than showing sadness and crying. Also quoted is Dean F. McKinnon, MD, an associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore,

Speaker A

emotional lives of boys but are we really to assume that this social messaging alone born from millions of years of masculine evolution is the culprit is this merely a problem of socialization that we can solve by instilling feminine values in our male

Speaker A

who says that men may see their symptoms as a sign of weakness, likening the situation to the idea that men don't like asking for directions. Men don't ask for directions, he says, because it makes them seem weak,

Speaker A

factor that might shine more light on this important subject maybe there's something more powerful at play than a barrage of social messages from parents and peers about what it takes to be a man perhaps examining another area of

Speaker A

but also because they're afraid they won't get the right information, unquote. The raggedly cliché stereotype of men offered by McKinnon is a common theme throughout all three of the first Google returns on the question of why men don't seek help. The American

Speaker A

disgust is a measurement in women for their level of distaste for Men Who present as possibly unhealthy according to the interpretation of the study involved unhealthy unmasculine and unattractive are all interchangeable according to clinical psychologist Dr Venita MAA in Psychology today when it

Speaker A

Psychological Association article asks us to imagine the "marlb" man and how unlikely the image is of him asking for help, and of course goes on to infer something inherently flawed about masculinity being at the root of the problem. The article even quotes the

Speaker A

confirmed that attractive masculinity and Peak physical health were synonymous terms as they they apply to sexual selection even more interesting the study also examined the areas of moral disgust the man's General sense of values and trustworthiness and sexual

Speaker A

notoriously misguided American Psychological Association President Ronald F. Levant, whose theoretical approach is deeply rooted in patriarchy theory. Levant is also the primary author of something called the Normative Male Alexithymia Scale, which assumes a default lack of emotional acumen in the

Speaker A

disgust were in no way predictive of how masculine women perceived men to be and therefore did not factor into whether they were sexually selected pathogen discussed however is a deal breaker across the board and so we're very clear on this matter men

Speaker A

human male, stemming from the fact that we are all well, except for him and his peers, I suppose, the product of toxic socialized masculine values. It's a simple picture repeated throughout the mental health professions and even to an extent in the medical

Speaker A

supposed to express vulnerability or caring unquote I take note that he did not mention women in this equation nor would any feminist academician if they wanted to maintain good standing with The Sisterhood so Levant omits the most powerful influence from for men in their

Speaker A

profession: men are out of touch with their own needs and stubbornly refuse to get help for their problems out of a misguided bravado that masks a childish fear of being seen as less than invincible and Herculean. According to Levant and most

Speaker A

to accept a normative standard of women who sexually coerce men out of self-caring behaviors a mental health professional claiming to recognize toxic messages to men yet missing this bombastic poisonous reality is so flawed that one has to wonder what drugs they must be

Speaker A

of his professional contemporaries, men literally die because they're trying to prove their manliness. As you dig deeper into their rationale, you will see them blithely attribute this to social messaging. We say to young males, "Big boys don't cry, man up, be a man, be tough, don't

Speaker A

which one is potentially more detrimental to my emotional well-being it is not the messages of childhood the media and Social Circles about manhood that leads men to Silence about their pain it is the guarantee that they will be condemned to a sexual and emotional

Speaker A

be a [expletive] or a [expletive]," and they internalize that message to the point that they ignore pain radiating down their left arm or coughing up blood. They become so dissociated from their own emotional condition that they don't notice the

Speaker A

more why on Earth should men trust mental health professionals who aren't even wise to that of course they shouldn't and not just for that reason what we see across the board from mental health professionals in their own aversion of

Speaker A

feelings of depression till they put the barrel of a gun in their mouth. Like all universally bad ideas, there is perhaps a kernel of truth in this. Certainly, there is merit to the idea of making more room for the

Speaker A

therapist which are shaped and molded by their predominantly female clientele Dr James mahalik of Boston College and co-author Dr Michael Addis published in American psychologist they outlined some of the factors underlying men's reluctance to seek help Chief among

Speaker A

emotional lives of boys. But are we really to assume that this social messaging alone, born from millions of years of masculine evolution, is the culprit? Is this merely a problem of socialization that we can solve by instilling feminine values in our male

Speaker A

traditional ideas of what it means to be male toughness Independence and emotional control unquote what they appear to be saying is that manhood itself is an obstacle to psych therapy at the very least they see masculine strength and masculine values

Speaker A

children? Can we socially engineer men to be more psychologically and physically healthy? Well, there's no shortage of people trying. Even my cursory examination of Google returns put that front and center. But maybe we're leaving something out here. Maybe there's another

Speaker A

more feminine way and present them on demand for an hourly fee for the convenience of the therapist in his or her office this is madness and it's an abusive form of it in the everyday health article Dr Amit Anand notes and

Speaker A

factor that might shine more light on this important subject. Maybe there's something more powerful at play than a barrage of social messages from parents and peers about what it takes to be a man. Perhaps examining another area of

Speaker A

hard to sell them on astrology and the power of crystals the shame here is that while most of these supposed professionals demonstrate a lot of expertise on the political and ideological definition of men they know little to nothing about

Speaker A

human life seen through the lens of research will help us out. To do so, I'm going to acquaint you with a term you will likely not be familiar with. The term is pathogen disgust, and yes, it's a thing. Pathogen

Speaker A

trust them and for good reason there will be much more on this and some practice Solutions in the not too distant future I have begun a book that will almost certainly be published under the same title as this video I

Speaker A

disgust is a measurement in women for their level of distaste for men who present as possibly unhealthy. According to the interpretation of the study involved, unhealthy, unmasculine, and unattractive are all interchangeable. According to clinical psychologist Dr. Venita Maa in Psychology Today, when it

Speaker A

link in the low bar The Forum is designed to give men all men and only men a place to gather and talk about the issues they face in their lives it's for single men married men estranged fathers and fathers who are raising their

Speaker A

comes to sexual selection in women, pathogen disgust plays a huge role. The study in her article asserted that, and I'm quoting here, pathogen disgust predicts women's preferences for masculinity in men's voices, faces, and bodies. Jones and Benedict et al.

Speaker A

like all forums it'll start slow so if you're interested in helping us build a community where men can talk about issues in whatever way they want to talk about them please visit register and introduce yourself to the group that is

Speaker A

confirmed that attractive masculinity and peak physical health were synonymous terms as they apply to sexual selection. Even more interesting, the study also examined the areas of moral disgust, the man's general sense of values and trustworthiness, and sexual

Speaker A

to the patreon page just pitching in a a dollar or two per video to help get these things produced is really helpful one last time I do hope you've enjoyed today's talk even if you haven't and we'll see you next time

Topics:men's mental healthhelp-seeking behaviormasculinityemotional suppressionsocial rolespathogen disgustmale psychologyhealth disparitiessuicide ratesgender differences

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are men less likely to seek professional help for health issues?

Men often avoid seeking help due to social stigma, fear of vulnerability, emotional suppression, and prioritizing professional obligations over personal health.

What role do traditional masculine norms play in men's health behaviors?

Traditional masculine norms promote toughness and self-reliance, discouraging men from expressing weakness or seeking help, which contributes to poorer health outcomes.

How does pathogen disgust relate to men's health and masculinity?

Pathogen disgust influences women's sexual selection preferences for masculine traits, linking physical health and attractiveness, and may impact social perceptions of masculinity.

Get More with the Söz AI App

Transcribe recordings, audio files, and YouTube videos — with AI summaries, speaker detection, and unlimited transcriptions.

App Store Google Play

Or transcribe another YouTube video here →