Are men too manly to seek help for their medical problems?

UBC researchers study effects of masculinity on men’s health choices

By Amy O’Brian, Vancouver Sun – March 13, 2009

It’s a well-known fact that men generally don’t like to admit weakness—that they don’t like going to the doctor or asking for help.

Such traits are commonly associated with the constructs of masculinity, which has led a group of researchers at the University of B.C. to examine men’s health within that context.

“We’re looking at men’s health in a new way, by trying to understand some of men’s health behaviour in relation to masculinity,” Joan Bottorff, a professor in UBC’s school of nursing, said Thursday in an interview.

“It provides a different way of looking at men’s health and therefore opens up some new avenues for promoting men’s health.”

Depression, heart health, smoking cessation and sexual health are four areas of research being examined at a forum this evening at Robson Square, as part of UBC’s Celebrate Research Week. The researchers all work at UBC’s school of nursing.

John Oliffe is investigating depression in men and the strategies men use to cope with it.

“The interesting piece around men’s depression is that men are diagnosed at half the rate of women,” Oliffe said. “But their suicide rate is four times that of women.”

Men tend to “self-manage” their depression with alcohol, drugs or violence, which is sometimes directed at their partner or spouse. Oliffe says many men are unwilling to take antidepressants, but there is an increasing willingness to talk about their depression.

“That’s new,” Oliffe says. “There seems to be an emerging interest, particularly among younger and middle-aged men, to be involved in talk therapy.

“We’re finding that there’s a real willingness to either talk with peers—other men who might be having issues—or professional counsellors.”

Bottorff has been studying smoking cessation among men, particularly those with infants or young children.

Part of the reason for the study is that 70 per cent of women who quit smoking while pregnant return to the bad habit within six months of giving birth. A key risk factor for those women is having a partner who smokes.

Bottorff says quitting cold turkey is one of the most popular smoking cessation methods among men, even though it has proven to be one of the most unsuccessful. Using a nicotine replacement such as the patch is proven to have a higher success rate, but Bottorff says men would rather focus on willpower and strength than relying on an “aid.”

Bottorff has no data regarding the most successful method of quitting, but says fathers who become heavily involved in caring for a baby are more likely to quit.

Other studies being pursued in the area of men’s health include an examination of how Punjabi men approach rehabilitation after having a heart attack, and another examining sexual health among men. Some of the studies are still recruiting subjects.