Has the field of psychology failed men?

YooGeOh · 2023-03-27T14:31:11+00:00

This is one I've spoke about myself so this was like reading something straight out of my own head.

Another issues is the double bind. A while ago there was the dismissive "get therapy lol" whenever a man spoke about an issue he was facing. If a man then is to speak on the fact that therapy spaces are female dominated and female oriented, he is then blamed for this as a man because men aren't choosing to go into psychological fields as a profession.

TheTinMenBlog · 2023-03-27T10:26:06+00:00

Society has become familiar with the idea that a workplace built and run by men, will likely take a shape that benefits other men.

This is not necessarily intentional, but perhaps the result of men seeing the world as men, and acting accordingly.

Over the last few decades, the world has seen a welcome transformation to undo these biases; different hours, flexible working, parental options, childcare, workplace toilets and even air conditioning are being reexamined and changed to accommodate working women.

And it’s about time.

Just last month Spain passed the first law to allow ‘menstrual leave’ for those experiencing especially painful periods during the working week.

But like all things, the story doesn’t and cannot end there.

Because guess what - there are places in society where women dominate, and where spaces have been built to meet women’s needs, rather than mens’.

See it this way – if a boardroom of 80% men leads to male favouring workplaces, then what is to be said about school classrooms that are 80% women?

Or domestic violence charities that are 99% women?

What about the field of psychology, where 82% of clinical psychologists are women, and 85% of psychology students are women?

Are we going to inspect these places through the same lens as the male dominated workplaces?

Might this misbalance explain why so many men do go to therapy, only to drop out, and take their own lives?

Are men falling through the same gender blind spots in therapy, that women fell through in corporate workplaces and offices for generations?

And who has the guts to close these gaps?

Is it time we stopped blaming men for the short comings and inadequacies of the psychological industry?

~

Sources

APPG Report on Male Suicide 2022

Study on Australian men and Therapy

Images by Mathias Reding, Ali Morshsediou, Sigmund Jzz, Cathal Mac an Bheatea, Kiwi Hug and Mark Adrian.

ThunderClap449 · 2023-03-27T11:13:43+00:00

Amazingly put. I've heard people tell me "just talk" but when I do, I'm told to not ruin the mood.

I've had friends call services, only to either not get a response, or the response was "too bad, so sad". Out of 7 of my friends that called, 2 got some actual help.

But if you talk about it on Reddit, you'll be told that "men push men to suicide" and "you're privileged why are you depressed".

It's almost as if people are unwilling to accept that people are different, and different things affect them in different ways, because accepting that would be accepting that not all people in one group are the same; making half of their internalized hate invalid.

For example; sexists won't admit that there are competent women, racists won't admit that not all of X race are a problem, and in this case - not all men are the same, so the convenient boogeyman some people like vanishes.

CookyMcCookface · 2023-03-27T15:27:41+00:00

Anyone here watched “Stutz” on Netflix? It was eye-opening as far as how different some therapists are. I’ve been to dozens of therapy sessions with a handful of therapists and I had never heard of the tools that guy breaks out in the FIRST SESSION! And I always ended up quitting therapy all-together or switching because I didn’t feel like we were doing anything other than talking. And as anyone who has switched therapists knows, it’s a daunting task realizing you have to “start over” every time…

Serloinofhousesteak1 · 2023-03-27T22:11:43+00:00

Yes it has. There is no question about that.

I had two different therapists both tell me that male depression does not exist, it’s just lack of gratitude for male privilege under patriarchy. I was there specifically due to very severe depression stemming from cheating exes and a false accusation of abuse to police, I was told by the first one that it’s literally impossible for women to lie, their inborn superior morality prevents that, so I was lying and had to have done what I was accused of. I was also told that all relationship problems are a man’s fault, no exceptions. She yells at you frequently? What did you do wrong and why didn’t you learn the first time? She cheats on you? If you were good enough, it wouldn’t have happened.

This was in 2014, I can’t imagine the hell men suckered into that trap are suffering through today

Oncefa2 · 2023-03-27T14:30:50+00:00

I just want to point out that there is some amazing work being done in this area.

In the past 3 years we've had 3 books written on the subject, including a "101" level university textbook, and a mental health handbook for men.

We also saw the creation of the male psychology section of the British Psychological Society and a new Centre for Male Psychology.

The APPG report is also a really good sign.

On Reddit we have r/mensupportmen for self-help, and r/MalePsychology to track the academic side of things. (MalePsychology is still kind of small but feel free to sub).

There are also some organizations working with men like Andys man club, men's sheds, and even groups like CAFE / men and families, the NCFM, and Men's Aid Ireland. There's honestly too many in this sector for me to sit down and remember all of them right now.

Centre for Male Psychology

https://www.centreformalepsychology.com/

Canadian Centre for Men and Families

https://menandfamilies.org/

The Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-04384-1

Men’s Issues and Men’s Mental Health: An Introductory Primer

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-86320-3

Perspectives in Male Psychology: An Introduction

https://www.wiley.com/en-ie/Perspectives+in+Male+Psychology:+An+Introduction-p-9781119685357

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Issues Affecting Men and Boys: Tackling Male Suicide

https://equi-law.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/APPG-MB-Male-Suicide-Report-9-22.pdf

Asriel-SIU · 2023-03-27T15:15:24+00:00

This is certainly a useful post when a feminist accuses men of not seeking help, or that male suicide is somehow due to "toxic masculinity". Thanks for making those. Shows that just as society abuses women, it ignores men's pleas for help.

LobYonder · 2023-03-27T14:55:29+00:00

"sought" not "sort"

Langland88 · 2023-03-28T10:37:01+00:00

I recall in 2019, around the same time when Gillette released their infamous ad that attack men, the American Psychological Association or APA released their guidelines on men. Needless to say, it pretty much was a piece Feminist talking points that labeled traditional masculine roles and masculinity itself as toxic. The fact that psychologists have to abide by the APA and use that to tell men their masculinity is the problem has also made it worse for men seeking help.

AdDefiant4169 · 2023-03-27T19:18:21+00:00

Why is psychology dominated by women ?

heimdahl81 · 2023-03-27T22:14:13+00:00

I've been in therapy for a couple years now for severe depression following the death of my father. It has helped but not quite in the ways I expected. I expected to learn techniques to manage my issues. Instead, I learned my self management was good, but that I needed help identifying patterns of behavior and causes that were not obvious to me.

I admit I would probably not still be in therapy if I was single. I stay in mostly because of the encouragement of my partner and to support them also continuing their therapy. I think this ties in with the statistic that single men don't live as long largely because they are less likely to get treatment without someone else encouraging them.

As far as brief advice, combining a SSRI with a SDRI is much much more effective than just the SSRI alone. And inositol supplement seems to help the medication work better, especially in regards to improving sleep quality. Most importantly, ask a new therapist what their specialty is in. My first therapist specialized in child sexual trauma and kept digging for it even though I never had any. My second therapist specializes in grieving, which is exactly what I needed. Don't be afraid to "fire" a therapist you don't match with. Trying to stick it out only wastes time and money.

My psychologist and both of the two therapists I have seen are women. Thete are plusses and minuses to talking to a woman therapist. I probably feel more comfortable talking about vulnerabilities, but at the same time sexual issues become awkward.

Another big issue that I never would have thought about without talking to a Native American friend is that something like 88% of mental health professionals are white. When a large part of your trauma relates to your treatment as a minority, that can be a HUGE barrier.

oldguy_1981 · 2023-03-28T03:06:01+00:00

Modern society is too quick to recommend therapy in my opinion. Whatever happened to “just vent with your friends?” Remember the phrase “letting off steam?” Now we have people saying to save those kinds of things for your therapist and people complain about “emotional labor.”

Uruz2012gotdeleted · 2023-03-27T14:40:38+00:00

A quote in there really stopd out to me. That men prefer to fix their problems rather than talk about them to feel better. I though that was the point of therapy. To figure out your problems and by doing that, relieve whatever distress you're feeling.

alienwaren · 2023-03-28T11:36:06+00:00

As a man, who had 4 therapists this post resonates with me.
Therapy did not work for me, my source of grief is the disease I have to live with and talking about it did not work at all. It's not going to go away, and yet therapists don't understand that!

big_meats93 · 2023-03-28T17:07:38+00:00

So, lashing out physically on inanimate objects can be considered self harm? Never heard that before

ARX7 · 2023-03-28T08:01:38+00:00

Nice work.

Slide 7 should be "sought therapy" not "sort therapy"

Maldevinine · 2023-03-30T08:24:50+00:00

Nice use of the Aboriginal Flag colours on slide 8.

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