Young Men as Reluctant Help-Seekers

Abstract

In the past, young men have not featured prominently in mental health statistics, a fact that contrasts sharply with their high visibility in crime statistics (Daly, 1994). This pattern confirms the accepted view of young men as individuals who show their emotional or psychological problems in acts of violence and other socially unacceptable behaviour, rather than in seeking help from health services. In other words, illness behaviour is not as acceptable for young men as it is for young women (see Shorter, 1990). As we have discussed in Chapters 7 and 8, young men are now becoming more visible in psychiatric statistics in the USA, mainly due to the inclusion of substance dependence and personality disorder in the calculation of these statistics in recent years. In Chapter 8 we found that this pattern has not yet emerged in England and Wales in one very important area of mental health provision, institution-based care, when overall bed occupancy in mental health facilities was investigated. However, there is some evidence of an increase in young men in admission rates (Payne, 1996, 1995) and in the new long-stay population in psychiatric hospitals (Lelliot et al., 1994).