Even with the various mental health treatment modalities available, there is a disproportionate difference between the number of males experiencing mental health disorders and those seeking treatment. Mental health, particularly among men, has gained momentum in becoming the “other” silent killer. Why is this? When defining the problem, the topic and role of stigma elicited responses from many of the experts invited to the Behavioral Health Aspects of Depression and Anxiety in the American Male(BHADAAM1; Giorgianni & Brott, 2019) conference held by the Men’s Health Network. One of the areas where wide agreement among experts arose was the thought that stigma is an extreme barrier to those needing mental health treatment. This editorial presents some of the sociocultural aspects of men’s acculturation to stigma related to mental health issues with emphasis on the influences of culture and traditional masculine norms. In addition, recommendations exploring stigma targeted at underrepresented groups are discussed.
What is Stigma?
Stigma can be complex and prevalent. For these reasons, I have provided some definitions to frame the discussion. Mental health–related stigma is an umbrella term that includes social (public) stigma, self-stigma (perceived), professional stigma, and cultural stigma. Social stigma refers to the negative attitudes toward and disapproval of a person or group experiencing mental health illness rooted in misperception that symptoms of mental illness are based on a person having a weak character. These perceptions can lead to discrimination, avoidance, and rejection of persons experiencing mental illness. This is usually the type of stigma that is discussed most often. Self-stigma is the internalization of social stigma, in that the person with the mental illness feels shame about his or her symptoms. Professional stigma assumes that health professionals transfer and reinforce stigmatization of their clients, while cultural stigma comprises the various ways that individual cultures interpret mental illness (Cerully et al., 2018; Hack et al., 2020; Holder et al., 2019). I highlighted these terms so that we can conceptualize the various lenses in which stigma exist.
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