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Caitlin Ide
Instructor Courtney
English 2010
February 8, 2017
Utah's National Alliance on Mental Illness Introduces "Man Therapy"
It may come as a surprise to some, but duct

tape does not fix everything. The National Alliance

on Mental Illness, known as NAMI Utah, knows

this dilemma all too well with their Man Therapy

initiative. One of their famously known

catchphrases, You cant fix your mental health

with duct tape(Man Therapy) emphasizes the

dilemma of how men treat their mental health as

just another everyday object. Their ego and

masculinity are placed above their need to seek

emotional and psychological support, so when struggling, they believe mental health can be

patched up with a little grease, ignorance, and duct tape.

To better describe why it is that men tend not to seek psychological help, enlisted is a

statement that is beautifully phrased on the dilemma. Luke Sullivan stated,

Good, Dell, and Mintz(1989) noted that male gender roles appear 'intuitively antithetical

to the behaviour of help seeking'. Dominant masculine norms have been hypothesized to

be in direct conflict with psychological help seeking, which emphasizes more 'feminine'
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traits such as emotional expression, introspection, intimacy, and an acknowledgement of

vulnerability

Put simply, society introduces gender roles at such an infant stage in life that those messages are

doomed to stay within men, and women, for a lifetime. A classic example is the scene of a little

boy crying and the father telling them not to cry like a girl. The father had been taught by his

father that in order to have masculinity you must not have traits that society deems as feminine.

However, one small step to encourage men to embrace their emotions is to cease the existence of

this specific gender role. When a child cries, embrace and listen to their emotion, male or female.

Emotion is not assigned to gender; rather, emotion is assigned to that of the entire human race.

Man therapy is dedicated to persuading the increase of the number of men who

participate in various forms of therapy throughout Utah, and is a relatively new community goal.

Initiated in late fall of 2015, three simple goals were created: to create a change in social mental

health for men of the population, to empower men to take ownership of their overall mental and

physical health by increasing help seeking

behavior, and to reduce long term suicidal

thoughts and attempts among men.

These three goals were created for

a specific reason:the rate of suicide in

men is increasing. The way men treat

their mental health has not only began to

affect their loved ones throughout their

life, but trends show they are starting to

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take their own lives. According to a study done by Luke Sullivan, Paul Camic and June S.L.,

"Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women.(Sullivan 195) Although, what

factors lead into the suicide rate? One major factor is depression. According to the american

psychological association, about six million American men suffer from simply depression every

year!(APA) This statistic does not even include any other form of mental illness, only

depression. As men increasingly ignore their mental health, the rate of mental illness in men

increases.

With deeper research into the matter, depression is the third most common form of

mental illness in men. However, it has such high prevalence that it leads individuals to believe

that it is the most common form of mental illness in men.(Dual Diagnosis). Imagine how high

the prevalence is for anxiety, the first most common form of mental illness in men and women.

As the mental illness in men increases, so does the rate of suicide. The only factor that is

decreasing is the rate at which they seek help and support with these illnesses.

Not only do men have a higher risk of suicide, they also tend to live four years less than

women and suffer from various amounts of health conditions.(Sullivan 195) Within this study it

correlated that due to men's reluctance to access health care services it majorly contributes to

poorer health for men. (Sullivan 195) This article shows how physical and psychological well

being go hand in hand and if one is compromised they both are.

One prime example of a health condition they suffer from is prostate cancer. Not only

does prostate cancer physically harm the body but it too can hold mental destruction. A study

conducted in the summer of 2015 states, "Research indicates that more than 70% of men have

unmet supportive care needs following their prostate cancer treatment, with more than 50%
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reporting unmet psychological care"(Wootten 108) Even when men have cancer the stigma may

still be for them to appear strong for their masculinity and ego.

NAMI Utah took these factors into consideration and knew that since the prevalence of

depression was not decreasing and their physical health was not increasing that the typical

approach at therapy was not working for treatment. They knew they would have to take a

different approach that was more suitable for the differences between the male and female sex.

That approach would end up being the form of humor, a dramatic difference from the formal

therapy of meeting one on one with a psychologist or psychiatrist. Rather than formally talking

about their emotions, NAMI created a mental health campaign for men revolved around videos

that tie in humor in an attempt to provide a different form of therapy. These videos take a serious

and stressful topic and turn it into a fun experience for men. The videos use jokes about problems

men face that range from break ups to advice on how to emotionally survive a loss in the family.

According to Kid Gardner from NAMI, "The goal of these videos is to use humor to draw men to

our website. We have talked to men who said laughter is OK, we like that."(Fox 13)

Gardner reached that conclusion due to how men said laughter is okay to deal with their

problems, but not face to face discussion on the matter . Even though men are 75% of the

demographic, they are less likely to seek help for depression or suicidal thoughts because it can

challenge their masculinity, thereby challenging their ego, according to Gardner. Although, as

men continue watching the videos and have a laugh or two, they also report that the videos help

them with problems throughout their life. Not only is this method of therapy free, but they can

gain therapy methods in the privacy of their own home without the stigma to be strong.
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These videos combine all three initial goals that man therapy stands by and offers a

different form of therapy for men that has dramatically been needed. A recent study shows that

activity based therapy may be more beneficial for men compared to the face to face verbal

therapy that is beneficial to women. "Research suggests that men differ from women in how they

socialize and that they prefer activity based socializing rather than face-to-face contact without

any other activity.(Irle 178) In this specific article, Irle emphasizes how a music based men's

group will be more beneficial for the men and improve their psychological well-being. NAMI

tied these beliefs into their Man Therapy videos and included a diverse amount of activities for

men that can be identified as therapeutic. For example, they have activities for jet skiing,

archery, household projects, chess, church, karate, walking, bowling, and many more.

Overall, this is not a report

that is designed to persuade the

audience into deeming males as the

only sex with issues in their lives.

Rather, the point stands that both

genders have their separate issues

and both deserve recognition if any

change is to come. One form of

therapy does not mold itself to the large amount of diverse factors from patient to patient. Every

patient is different, one size does not fit all, and that analogy also applies to therapy, Rather than

fighting about the differences between men and women on who is better or who is worse, society
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needs to come together and accept that we are all different and require various options for

treatment.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Utahs Man Therapyhas taken the initiative

to lead us down the path of healing. One may argue that it is a mans world, that they do not

suffer problems X, Y, or Z. Rather than arguing about who has it worse, develope the act of

empathy. Everyone knows a man, a boy, a pronoun for the male sex. It is not just males being

affected by the dilemmas listed in this report. Men are our brothers, sons, husbands, cousins,

loved ones. They deserve to be helped and offered whatever form of treatment they may need.

Watch the videos NAMI provides, spread the messages within them, eradicate the stigma that

men should not show emotion.

Not only is NAMI providing men with the psychological advice that theyve always

needed, but they are gaining it in a way that does not challenge their masculinity or ego.

Although, the stigma around men's mental health is still out there and impacts men's lives daily.

NAMI Utah encourages men and women alike to participate in the Stigma Free mindset where

individuals obliterate and ignore the stigmas that revolve around all mentally ill individuals.

Every one in five individuals suffer from a mental illness, it is severely affecting communities

across the globe, and participating in encouraging the stigmas is leading to a decay in all

societies. NAMI Utah is taking it one step at a time to end the stigmas, specifically with their

Man Therapy program, and encourage all to participate in their programs to invest in the future

of the mental health society.

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Works Cited

Irle, Kevin; Lovell, Geoff. "An investigation into the Efficacy of a Music-Based Men's Group for

Improving Psychological Well Being. Music Therapy Perspectives 32.2 (2014):

178-184. CINAHL Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

"Man Therapy campaign uses humor to reduce stigma surrounding men and getting help". Fox

13. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

Men: A Different Depression. American Psychological Association. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

"Mental Illness and Suicide Prevention Programs - Man Therapy." NAMI Utah. Web. 04 Feb.

2017.

"Most common Mental Health Disorders in Men" Dual Diagnosis. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.

Sullivan, Luke; Camic, Paul M; Brown, June S.L.

"Masculinity, alexithymia, and fear of intimacy as predictors of UK men's attitudes

towards seeking professional psychological help". British Journal of Health Psychology

20.1 (2015): 194-211. Wiley Blackwell. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

Wootten, A.C. "The psychological impact of prostate cancer: Barriers to access and innovative

approaches to engaging men in seeking support". Australian & New Zealand Continence

Journal 21.4 (2015): 108-110. CINAHL Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.