Why aren’t men going to therapy? The statistics show that men receive lower rates of diagnoses and treatment for mental illness in comparison to women while also having a higher rate of deaths related to mental illness. Stereotypes of self-reliance and traditional masculinity have conditioned many men into believing seeking help is a sign of weakness instead of a method of getting mentally stronger. 

Experts have done thorough research on the underlying reasons as to what makes men so reluctant to seek help. Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, president and co-founder of United Suicide Survivors International, has spent time interviewing at-risk men about what makes therapy so daunting for them. The complex stigma surrounding men’s mental health is explained with more depth in the New York Times article linked here.