Men want different things from therapy

Date: Thursday 13 Jul 2017

When it comes to psychological therapy, Brothers are keener on support groups than are women.

That is the conclusion of research published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology today,

• Main points
• Men are less inclined than women to seek help for psychological issues
• This study demonstrates that men and women show significant differences in some aspects of therapy,
  coping behaviour, and help-seeking
• It is possible that men would be more inclined to seek help if therapies catered more for men’s
  preferences

women were more likely than men to use coping strategies that were emotion-focused as opposed to problem-focused. For example, it was found that women tend to cope with stress by talking about their feelings more than men do.Men and women also show differences in what they perceive as barriers to help-seeking. For example,  stigma and embarrassment are more of a deterrent for men than women.

This present study shows that women were significantly more likely than men to want to use prescription medication as a way to cope with stress. This apparently contradicts psychological therapists who reported that men want a quick fix and women want to explore their feelings.

Previous research shows that more men than women engage in substance abuse,  so men might self-medicate in this way rather than with prescription medication.  However, the present finding that men use medication less is because they go to their family doctor less and are concerned about balancing the risk and benefits of medication. It may also be related to stigma surrounding having mental health problems.

For example, disproportionately fewer men are diagnosed with and treated for depression than women, possibly due to depression not being recognized as easily in men, and making it harder to diagnose because when men are depressed they might act out in different ways from women    

There is evidence that men and women differ in regard to the things that cause them to seek psychological help. For example, men were more likely to open up about personal issues when it was impacting their work, or when prompted by a female family member or partner

And, while most people don’t mind the sex of their therapist, when women do express a preference, it is almost always for having a woman therapist.

That is the conclusion of research published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology today by Louise Liddon from Northumbria University, Roger Kingerlee from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and John Barry from University College London.

The researchers surveyed 347 participants (115 men and 232 women) who have taken part in psychological therapy completed an online survey. The survey described various different kinds of therapy and asked participants how much they liked each, and their strategies for coping with psychological problems and ways they sought help were also assessed.

When the results were analysed, the researchers found that the men liked support groups more than women did and were more likely to believe that there is a lack of male-friendly options than women were. Men also used sex or pornography to cope with stress more than women did.

The majority of participants expressed no preference for the sex of their therapist, but of those who did, men were only slightly more likely to prefer a female therapist whereas women were much more likely to prefer females.

John Barry says:

“We found significant differences between men and women. Women liked psychotherapy more than men did, perhaps because of its emphasis on the sharing of emotion. Men liked support groups significantly more than women did, perhaps due to the emphasis on the sharing of information.”

Read More HERE