DAVIS, Calif., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A U.S. male's stereotypical self-image as the "strong, silent type" and the stigma of depression are why older men are less likely to seek treatment.
Researchers at the University of California at Davis department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences found traditional views of masculinity and the stigma associated with mental illness lead to a tendency to reject a diagnosis of depression and to conceal or mask symptoms of the condition in men.
Study author Ladson Hinton said the findings are important in the arena of public health because of depression's association with suicide in older adults. Older men have higher rates of completed suicide: 31.8 per 100,000 in men age 65 and older, compared with 4.1 per 100,000 in older women.
"Because older men tend not to endorse depressed mood or sadness, they were often felt to be more reluctant to accept the diagnosis of depression and the treatment recommendations," according to the study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
