Overcoming Barriers to Men\u27s Mental Health: Research Update

In the U.S. in 2018, 18.3 million men over the age of 18 reported a mental illness of some kind; only 34.9% of those males received treatment (Bose, Hedden, Lipari, & Park-Lee, 2018). Stigma has been identified as the most significant barrier to men engaging in mental health treatment services (Corrigan, 2004) with non-white males being even less likely than white males to seek help (Blumberg, Clarke, & Blackwell, 2015). An extensive body of literature has explored stigma around men’s help-seeking behaviors (e.g. Heath, Brenner, Vogel, Lannin, & Strass, 2017; Vogel & Heath, 2016). The dissonance between socialized masculine norms, which encourage men to contain or avoid emotional expression, and the counseling process, which often requires emotional disclosure, is believed to be at the root of this stigma (Vogel & Heath, 2016). This study utilized existing data on men’s help-seeking stigma to test the effectiveness of a public education tool on reducing stigma and increasing men’s likelihood of engaging in mental health treatment. The PI will present the status of the study, recruitment challenges faced during COVID quarantine, and invite feedback from colleagues on recruiting resistant populations