Help seeking behaviours in men with depression : implications for primary care practice in northern BC

Within North America, there is a consistent and discordant relationship between men’s low rates of diagnosed depression and high rates of completed suicide. This discordance has traditionally been explained as due to lower rates of help seeking in men as compared to women, particularly for concerns around depression and emotional distress. However, little information is available that provides primary care clinicians with recommendations to address this important gap in care. Therefore, an integrative literature review has been conducted in order to identify the factors that influence help seeking for men with depression in primary care settings. The results are discussed within the context of northern British Columbian primary care practice. In this study, ten articles were reviewed utilizing Whittemore and Knafl’s approach to the integrative literature review. Both grey literature and academic research were included in the analysis. Results suggest that men’s experience of depression and their behaviours around help seeking are complex, but are largely shaped by socially constructed ideals that dictate and perpetuate hegemonic masculinities. These masculinities situate depression and help seeking as ‘feminine’, and may discourage some men from seeking help for their symptoms. Primary care practitioners working in northern British Columbia are encouraged to be aware of the impact of gender norms on their male patients’ help seeking behaviours. Recommendations for enhancing assessment and treatment of men with depression are discussed, and specific strategies for the primary care setting are presented.